Biodiversity & Conservation

In Britain, %Sabellaria alveolata% distribution is restricted to south and west coasts with the eastern limit in Lyme Bay. The northern limit is the outer Solway Firth. It is also found on south, west and north coasts of Ireland. To date, MLR.Salv has only been recorded in the Solway Firth and along the Cumbrian coast, western Wales, and the Severn Estuary. In Northern Ireland reefs have been recorded from the Down coast (Rossglass and Glassdrummand) although surveys are incomplete. It has also been recorded at two sites in Ireland, Ballycotton Bay (south) and Killala Bay, (north-west).

Temperature range preferences - See additional information.

Water clarity preferences - Very high clarity / Very low turbidity
High clarity / Low turbidity
Medium clarity / Medium turbidity

Limiting Nutrients - No information found

Other preferences - Availability of sand grains.

Although identified in the Severn Estuary, the habitat is rather different and the assemblage present is not likely to be the same as in occurrences of the biotope more typically found on open coasts. At Glasdrummand (Northern Ireland), the Sabellaria alveolata reefs extend into the subtidal. Optimal temperatures are probably higher than those typically found in the waters of the British Isles. There needs to be an adequate supply of suspended coarse sand grains in order for Sabellaria alveolata to be able to build their tubes.

Temperature preferences
The growth of Sabellaria alveolata is severely restricted below 5 °C (Gruet, 1982, cited in Holt et al., 1998). Cunningham et al. (1984) reported increasing growth rates with temperatures up to 20 °C.