Grewingkia was the most common specimen found, while Protaraea was very rare. Both Grewingkia and Protaraea belong to the Class Anthozoa, and both are found on this page. The Whitewater Formation is representative of a shallow marine shelf environment in the Upper Ordovician. The most prominent organisms are strophomenid and rhynchonellid brachiopods, cnidarians, and bryozoans. A moderate number of bivalves are present.
Gastropods are relatively uncommon, and no cephalopods or trilobites are represented.
Based on this distribution of organisms, the water energy was interpreted to be moderate to high with little to moderate turbidity. This was inferred from the presence of bivalves, cnidarians, bryozoans, and brachiopods, all of which are stenoturbidic and require clean, nutrient rich water. All of the organisms present are commonly found in the photic zone because they need abundant oxygen, and many may have had photosynthetic zooxanthellae. The hermatypic corals present are indicative of a stenohaline and stenothermal environment. The brachiopods present likely thrived in tropical waters.