Biodiversity & Conservation

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Vertical rock faces in the circalittoral (often at same depth as lower infralittoral biotopes as well as deeper) with a dense turf of Bugula spp. and Scrupocellaria spp. and the sponges Tethya aurantium, Pachymatisma johnstonia, Hemimycale columella and occasionally Dercitus bucklandi in crevices are often present. Also patches of Nemertesia antennina and Crisia eburnea. Most surfaces also with a thin cover of Cryptopleura, Rhodophyllis 'spiky' and Plocamium. Some areas may have large patches of Clavelina and a few areas with Perophora, Polycarpa scuba and Ascidia mentula. Antedon bifida also occurs in crevices. Bugula turbinata tends to predominate in shallower records of this biotope, whereas deeper records have a mixture of at least three Bugula spp., dominated by Bugula plumosa. Many of the records with this biotope have been recorded as parts of other habitat records despite the clarity in which this biotope occupies vertical faces of almost any size in some parts of the country, particularly in Wales and further south in the Irish Sea. Softer rock faces bored by Hiatella arctica (IR.AlcByH.Hia) tend to be more species-rich, reflecting the large number of niches and holes inhabited by small cryptic species. (Information taken from the Marine Biotope Classification for Britain and Ireland, Version 97.06: Connor et al., 1997a, b).

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