MarLIN Gallery

Biotopes gallery

Current swept bed of Zostera marina. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Current swept seagrass bed. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Exposed sublittoral fringe bedrock with Alaria esculenta, Isles of Scilly. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Laminaria hyperborea park with dense foliose red seaweeds on exposed upper infralittoral rock (EIR.LhypR.Pk). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Maerl bed in Loch Gairloch, Highland. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Cross section through the LMS.BatCor biotope. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	View across a cockle strand (biotope LMS.Pcer). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Laminaria hyperborea forest with dense foliose red seaweeds on exposed upper infralittoral rock (EIR.LhypR.Ft). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Exposed sublittoral fringe bedrock with Alaria esculenta. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	LMU.Sm e.g. Salicornia sp. pioneer saltmarsh Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Circalittoral cliff face with dense brachiopods Neocrania anomala and Terebratulina retusa, the anemone Protanthea simplex and the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Loch Duich, Highland. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Circalittoral cliff with Protanthea simplex, Sabella pavonina, Ciona intestinalis and Ophiothrix fragilis. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Sabellaria alveolata reefs on sand abraded eulittoral rocks. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	A well developed overhang community with pendulous polyclinid tunicates. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Underboulder community dominated by sponges from a rock pool habitat. Wembury, South Devon. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Bedrock with the sea fan Eunicella verrucosa, the soft coral Alcyonium glomeratum and the stalked sponge Raspailia ramosa amongst a hydroid turf. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Dense Alcyonium and Eunicella. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Sabellaria spinulosa crusts on silty turbid circalittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Lithothamnion glaciale nodules amongst pebbles with the sunstar Crossaster papposus, Isle of Lewis. Copyright JNCC	A bed of Zostera noltii with Hydrobia ulvae visible on the mud surface. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Close up view of Hydrobia ulvae amongst blades of Zostera noltii. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Echinocardium cordatum dug out of sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	View across shore showing extensive kelp beds on chalk. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Kelp forest exposed at low tide with rocky shore in background. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Amphiura filiformis arms visible in circalittoral muddy sand. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Ophiothrix fragilis and/or Ophiocomina nigra beds on slightly tide-swept circalittoral rock or mixed substrata. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Mytilus edulis beds with hydroids and ascidians on tide-swept moderately exposed circalittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Pennatula phosphorea and Turritella communis in muddy sediment. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
A dense mat of Ascophyllum nodosum mackaii. Copyright Sue Scott	Modiolus modiolus beds with hydroids and red seaweeds on tide-swept circalittoral mixed substrata. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	View down shore showing upper shore bedrock with Fucus distichus and green algae. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	View of vertical bedrock shore. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Ascophyllum nodosum with epiphytes (SIR.AscSAs). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Ampharete falcata turf with Nephrops sp. from the southern edge of the north west Irish Sea. Copyright Matthew Service	Circalittoral rock with Antedon bifida, hydroids and occasional solitary sea squirts. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Polydora sp. tubes on upward-facing circalittoral soft rock, with the sponge Suberites sp. also present. Copyright Keith Hiscock
Upward facing bedrock dominated by tubes of Polydora species. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Bugula spp. and other bryozoans on vertical moderately exposed circalittoral rock Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Ophiothrix fragilis and/or Ophiocomina nigra beds on slightly tide-swept circalittoral rock or mixed substrata. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Ophiopholis aculeata beds on slightly tide-swept circalittoral rock or mixed substrata. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Piddocks with a sparse associated fauna in upward-facing circalittoral very soft chalk or clay. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Polydora sp. tubes on upward-facing circalittoral soft rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Polydora sp. tubes on upward-facing circalittoral soft rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Saccharina latissima, Chorda filum and dense red seaweeds on shallow unstable infralittoral boulders or cobbles. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
A turf of Polyides rotundus, Furcellaria lumbricalis and filamentous brown algae. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Suberites spp. and other sponges with solitary ascidians on very sheltered circalittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock on the Isle of Cumbrae. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock at Millport, Isle of Cumbrae. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Ostrea edulis beds on shallow sublittoral muddy sediment. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Neopentadactyla mixta and venerid bivalves in circalittoral shell gravel or coarse sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Neopentadactyla mixta and venerid bivalves in circalittoral shell gravel or coarse sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Dense Lanice conchilega and other polychaetes in tide-swept infralittoral sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Dense Lanice conchilega and other polychaetes in tide-swept infralittoral sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Ruppia maritima in reduced salinity infralittoral muddy sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Arenicola marina and synaptid holothurians in extremely shallow soft mud. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Soft mud with Arenicola marina mounds, brittle star (Amphiura) arms and hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus in background. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Soft mounded mud with Leptosynapta bergensis. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Crepidula fornicata and Aphelochaeta marioni in variable salinity infralittoral mixed sediment. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Saccharina latissima, Chorda filum and filamentous red seaweeds on sheltered infralittoral sediment. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Saccharina latissima, Chorda filum and filamentous red seaweeds on sheltered infralittoral sediment Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Erect sponges, Eunicella verrucosa and Pentapora foliacea on slightly tide-swept moderately exposed circalittoral rock Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Erect sponges, Eunicella verrucosa and Pentapora foliacea on slightly tide-swept moderately exposed circalittoral rock Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Erect sponges, Eunicella verrucosa and Pentapora foliacea on slightly tide-swept moderately exposed circalittoral rock Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Erect sponges, Eunicella verrucosa and Pentapora foliacea on slightly tide-swept moderately exposed circalittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Hiatella arctica, bryozoans and ascidians on vertical infralittoral soft rock (IR.AlcByH.Hia). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Hiatella arctica, bryozoans and ascidians on vertical infralittoral soft rock (IR.AlcByH.Hia). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Alcyonium digitatum with a bryozoan, hydroid and ascidian turf on moderately exposed vertical infralittoral rock (IR.AlcByH). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Alcyonium digitatum with a bryozoan, hydroid and ascidian turf on moderately exposed vertical infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Alcyonium digitatum with a bryozoan, hydroid and ascidian turf on moderately exposed vertical infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint nature Conservation Committee	Alcyonium digitatum with a bryozoan, hydroid and ascidian turf on moderately exposed vertical infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Dense Flustra foliacea on sloping, slightly scoured silty circalittoral rock (MCR.Flu.Flu). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Flustra foliacea on slightly scoured silty circalittoral rock or mixed substrata (MCR.Flu.Flu). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Flustra foliacea with hydroids, bryozoans and sponges on slightly tide-swept circalittoral mixed substrata (MCR.Flu.HByS). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Flustra foliacea and other hydroid/bryozoan turf species on slightly scoured circalittoral rock or mixed substrata. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Flustra foliacea and other hydroid/bryozoan turf species on slightly scoured circalittoral rock or mixed substrata Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Urticina felina on sand-scoured circalittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Urticina felina and Ciocalypta penicillus on sand-covered circalittoral rock (MCR.Urt.Cio). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Grazed Laminaria hyperborea forest with coralline crusts on upper infralittoral rock (MIR.LhypGz.Ft). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Grazed Laminaria hyperborea forest with coralline crusts on upper infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Grazed Laminaria hyperborea forest with coralline crusts on upper infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Grazed Laminaria hyperborea forest with coralline crusts on upper infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Grazed Laminaria hyperborea forest with coralline crusts on upper infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Grazed Laminaria hyperborea park with coralline crusts on lower infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Green seaweeds (Enteromorpha spp. and Cladophora spp.) in upper shore rockpools Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Green seaweeds (Enteromorpha spp. and Cladophora spp.) in upper shore rockpools. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Fucoids and kelps in deep eulittoral rockpools. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Fucoids and kelps in deep eulittoral rockpools. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Sargassum muticum in eulittoral rockpools. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Sargassum muticum in eulittoral rockpools. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Sargassum muticum in eulittoral rockpools. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Seaweeds in sediment (sand or gravel)-floored eulittoral rockpools. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Alaria esculenta, Mytilus edulis and coralline crusts on very exposed sublittoral fringe bedrock Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Alaria esculenta forest with dense anemones and sponge crusts on extremely exposed infralittoral bedrock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Alaria esculenta forest with dense anemones and sponge crusts on extremely exposed infralittoral bedrock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Alaria esculenta forest with dense anemones and sponge crusts on extremely exposed infralittoral bedrock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Alaria esculenta forest with dense anemones and sponge crusts on extremely exposed infralittoral bedrock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Alaria esculenta forest with dense anemones and sponge crusts on extremely exposed infralittoral bedrock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Laminaria hyperborea forest with a faunal cushion (sponges and polyclinids) and foliose red seaweeds on very exposed upper infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Saccharina latissima and/or Saccorhiza polyschides on exposed infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Foliose red seaweeds on exposed or moderately exposed lower infralittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Zostera marina beds in upper to mid shore muddy sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Phymatolithon calcareum maerl beds with hydroids and echinoderms in deeper infralittoral clean gravel or coarse sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Lithothamnion glaciale maerl beds in tide-swept variable salinity infralittoral gravel. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
A colony of tube worms forming a small reef, Loch Creran. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee.	Base of vertical chalk cliff showing green cover of Chrysophyceae. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Neopentadactyla mixta and venerid bivalves in circalittoral shell gravel or coarse sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Upper shore mud with Hediste holes and tracks. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Puccinellia maritima salt marsh. Copyright SNH	Virgularia mirabilis, Cerianthus lloydii with Ophiocomina nigra on shelly muddy gravel. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Lower saltmarsh. Copyright Dr Ian Powell	Lower saltmarsh pioneer species, Spartina anglica, Salicornia spp. and Suaeda maritima. Copyright Dr Ian Powell
Edwardsia timida on sublittoral clean stone gravel. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Suaeda maritima and Spartina salicornia. Copyright Dr Ian Powell	Suaeda maritima, Atriplex prostrata and Puccinellia maritima community. Copyright Dr Ian Powell	Saltmarsh communities, hummocks of Atriplex portulacoides Copyright Dr Ian Powell
Artiplex portulacoides and Festuca rubra saltmarsh community. Copyright Dr Ian Powell	Algae attached to rock including Halidrys. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Dense Virgularia and Sagartiogeton. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Fucoids and Chorda filum submerged. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Dense carpet of Ascophyllum nodosum ecad mackii. Copyright Scottish Association for Marine Science	Faunal dominated rock wall. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Halidrys on flat pebbles and gravel. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	View along sandy shore with lighthouse in background. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Dense growths of Corynactis with sponge crusts. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Himanthalia elongata and Laminaria digitata on lower shore bedrock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Close view of Mytilus and dense barnacles covering rock surface. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Gaping file shell nest on mixed muddy substratum, with nest opened and Limaria hians exposed. Copyright Sue Scott
View along shore with sea wall in background. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Mytilus and fucoids. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Fucus ceranoides near freshwater stream. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Molgula manhattensis dominated seabed, middle channel with associated common starfish Asterias rubens. Copyright Keith Hiscock
Tufts of green filamentous algae. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	A mat of the filamentous bacterium Beggiatoa spp. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Dense Lanice conchilega in muddy sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Sand eel shoal over sandy seabed. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
A bed of fennel pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus. Copyright Martin Isaeus	View along sand and gravel shore backed by seawall (strandline debris). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Sand tolerant red algae on lower shore. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Gravel and sand shore. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Piddock bored rock with red algae. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Rhodothamniella floridula in upper littoral fringe soft rock caves. Copyright Countryside Council for Wales	Edge of a Phragmites reed bed in February, Tamar Estuary. Copyright Harvey Tyler-Walters	Pool in Pelvetia zone Corallina officinalis and coralline crusts (LR.Cor). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Fallen chalk blocks covered in Enteromorpha. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Cordylophora caspia and Electra crustulenta on reduced salinity infralittoral rock. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Aggregation of Ocnus planci on broken shell and cobbles. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Aggregation of Ocnus planci on broken shell and cobbles. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Steep bedrock shore with Corallina officinalis (ELR.Coff). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Boulder shore backed by low cliffs (SLR.Bllit) Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Faunal and algal crusts, Echinus esculentus, sparse Alcyonium digitatum, Abietinaria abietina and other grazing-tolerant fauna on moderately exposed circalittoral rock. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Zostera marina bed on muddy sand. Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee
SIR.CorEle exposed at low tide. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Cobbles with dense Pomatoceros species (ECR.PomByC). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Ophiocomina on cobbles and sediment (ECR.PomByC). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Dense Alcyonium and Eunicella. Copyright Keith Hiscock
Close up of rock face with Corallina and Himanthalia (ELR.Coff). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Laminaria holdfasts and red algal undergrowth (EIR.LhypR.Ft.jpg). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Dense aggregations of Littorina littorea on horizontal rock (SLR.Bllit). Copyright Joint Nature Conservation Committee	Strandline of seawed and driftwood (LGS.Tal). Copyright Keith Hiscock
Deep water coral reef habitat dominated by Lophelia pertusa. Image provided by Dr Brian Bett, DEEPSEAS Group, Southampton Oceanography Centre. This image must not be used in any capacity without prior permission from Dr Brian Bett. Copyright Brian Bett	Limaria hians in excavated "nest". Limaria hians bed colonized by Protanthea simplex in background. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Laminaria and Himanthalia elongata on coralline turf, Wembury. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Dense Virgularia and Sagartiogeton. Copyright Keith Hiscock
Small hummock of Sabellaria alveolata at Dunraven, Southerndown, south Wales. Copyright Judith Oakley	Section of Lophelia pertusa reef, Mingulay, Scotland. Copyright Murray Roberts	Underboulder community. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Underboulder community. Copyright Keith Hiscock
Surveying an underboulder community. Copyright Keith Hiscock	An underboulder community. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Overhang community LR.Ov. Copyright Keith Hiscock	Overhang community at Cellar Beach, the Yealm Estuary. Copyright Keith Hiscock
Close up of Sabellaria spinulosa mound showing worm tubes composed of cemented sand grains and shell fragments. Copyright Ken Collins	Photograph of diver with Sabellaria reef mounds in foreground, off Swanage, Dorset. Copyright Ken Collins	Diver surveying mounds of Sabellaria. Copyright Ken Collins	Yellow lichens (Caloplaca sp. and Xanthoria sp.) on supralittoral rock. Copyright Judith Oakley

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