Spines in Brachiopods rarely survive in the local rocks. While I believe I have found a few already separated, I rarely see one actually embedded on the shell. I found the 1mm long spine on this Brachiopod specimen I brought back this evening after freeing it from float limestone within the creek bed.
I believe this specimen to be of the genus Juresania. Belonging to the order Productida, this species is supposed to have spines.
This specimen likely has several spines along its shell, but they are missing. This particular spine survives because the limestone remains attached. Spines have a primary function of helping the creature remain in place along the sea floor. While this particular example is only 1mm in length, there is a wide variety of widths and lengths.
The whole brachiopod 
