Does topography of rocky intertidal habitat affect aggregation of cerithiid gastropods and co-occurring macroinvertebrates?

•Intertidal invertebrates such as cerithiids aggregate to reduce environmental stress.•It was unknown if aggregation responds to conspecifics or to topographic features.•In NW India, overall assemblage structure was correlated with intertidal topography.•There was no evidence that cerithiid densities are affected by topographic complexity.•Cerithiid aggregations are likely produced by contact during movement with conspecifics.