Biodiversity & Conservation

For a full description of this biotope including characterizing species, distribution, survey information and references visit JNCC

Very sheltered infralittoral sandy and muddy mixed cobbles, pebbles and gravels with the cape form of Laminaria saccharina and Chorda filum. Beneath the kelp canopy, a variety of filamentous and foliose red algae are usually present, along with filamentous brown ectocarpoid algae. In the sandier sediments Cerianthus lloydii and terebellids such as Lanice conchilega are common. Where the cobbles, pebbles and gravels occur on muddier sediments, the infauna is characterized by a range of polychaetes and bivalves. This biotope is currently very broadly defined, and is likely to be further sub-divided following detailed data analysis, as the infauna and associated seaweeds appear to be distinctive depending on the specific sediment type. (Information taken from the Marine Biotope Classification for Britain and Ireland, Version 97.06: Connor et al., 1997a, b). NB. Laminaria saccharina is now considered to be a synonym of Saccharina latissima.