Biodiversity & Conservation

Common eelgrass - Zostera marina - General information

Zostera marina

Image Steve Trewhella - A bed of common eelgrass Image width ca XX m.
Image copyright information

  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
Distribution map

Zostera marina recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

Sightings Have you seen Zostera marina?
If so please submit your record.

  • Berne

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters Text page icon Refereed by: Dr Leigh Jones

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Angiospermophyta Seagrass, tassel weeds, reeds, sea pink & grasses
Class Angiospermophyta Seagrass, tassel weeds, reeds, sea pink & grasses
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Zostera marina has a wide but patchy distribution in southwest of England, the Solent and Isle of Wight on the south coast, Wales, western Ireland, western and eastern Scotland including Orkney and the Shetland Islands.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Dense swards found primarily on sand to fine gravel in the subtidal, typically down to 4 m, in sheltered waters such as shallow inlets, bays, estuaries and saline lagoons.
Text page icon Description Grass like flowering plant with dark green, long, narrow, ribbon shaped leaves 20-50 cm in length (exceptionally up to 2 m long) with rounded tips. Leaves shoot from a creeping rhizome that binds the sediment. Leaves and rhizomes contain air spaces, lacunae, that aid buoyancy. Numerous flowers occur on a reproductive shoot similar to those of terrestrial grasses. Forms dense swards in the subtidal, supports a diverse fauna and flora and may act as a nursery for fish and shellfish.

This review can be cited as follows:

Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters 2008. Zostera marina. Common eelgrass. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=4600>