Biodiversity & Conservation

Serpula vermicularis reefs on very sheltered circalittoral muddy sand

SS.CMS._.Ser

CMS.Ser

Image David Connor - A colony of tube worms forming a small reef, Loch Creran. Image width ca 40 cm.
Image copyright information

Distribution map

SS.CMS._.Ser recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

  • EC_Habitats
  • UK_BAP

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

In Britain living %Serpula vermicularis% reefs are known from Loch Creran in Scotland. The only other known sites in Britain and Ireland for these reefs are at locations in County Galway. Reefs were reported from Loch Sween in Scotland in the 1980s, but these are now no longer living (Hughes et al., 2008). A large aggregation from the Hamoaze, Tamar Estuary, Plymouth was reported in the Plymouth Marine Fauna (MBA, 1957).

Habitat preferences

Temperature range preferences -

Water clarity preferences - High clarity / Low turbidity

Limiting Nutrients - Not relevant

Other preferences -

Additional information

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This review can be cited as follows:

Hill, J.M. & Wilding C.M. 2008. Serpula vermicularis reefs on very sheltered circalittoral muddy sand. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 19/06/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/habitatpreferences.php?habitatid=41&code=1997>