Biodiversity & Conservation

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

Sublittoral muddy gravel or shell gravel can contain conspicuous communities of burrowing anemones such as Mesacmaea mitchellii, Aureliania heterocera, Cereus pedunculatus and Cerianthus lloydii. Some ascidians such as Corella parallelogramma may also be present in the substratum if surface features such as shell material is large enough. There may be more than one variety of this biotope, influenced by the strength of the currents and the composition of the sediment. (Information taken from the Marine Biotope Classification for Britain and Ireland, Version 97.06: Connor et al., 1997a, b).