BIOTIC

BIOTIC Species Information for Pomatoceros triqueter
All Taxonomy Biology Distribution Reproduction

Researched by	Lizzie Tyler	Data supplied by	University of Sheffield
Refereed by	This information is not refereed.
Distribution and Habitat
Distribution in Britain & Ireland	Common and widespread on all coasts.
Global distribution	Occurs from the coasts of north west Europe to the Mediterranean.
Biogeographic range	Not researched	Depth range
Migratory	Non-migratory / Resident
Distribution Additional Information	Segrove (1941) studied Pomatoceros triqueter in south England and found that there are usually ten times as many males as females present. The species has been noted to occur in very exposed to extremely sheltered wave action, very sheltered to exposed water flow rate, and in areas where there is little or no silt present (Price et al., 1980). Pomatoceros triqueter is considered to be a primary fouling organism (Crisp, 1965), colonizing artificial commercially important structures such as buoys, ships hulls, docks and offshore oil rigs (OECD, 1967). Pomatoceros triqueter is an opportunistic species, making use of available space quickly. In Bantry Bay, south-west Ireland, fouling by the tube worm caused a 65% mortality of scallops and prevented scallops from recolonizing the area after spat collection (Burnell et al., 1991). They also reported that mussel farmers considered that most inner areas of the bay would be subject to this type of fouling. Rubin (1985) reported that Pomatoceros triqueter overgrew colonies of encrusting Bryozoa to become the dominant species on experimental panels. However, Bryozoa then grew on the tubes of the species, thereby avoiding exclusion. Dominance of %Pomatoceros lamarckii% over Pomatoceros triqueter is dependent on climatic conditions (Castric-Fey, 1983).

Substratum preferences	Bedrock Large to very large boulders Small boulders	Physiographic preferences	Open coast Enclosed coast / Embayment
Biological zone	Sublittoral Fringe Upper Infralittoral Lower Infralittoral Upper Circalittoral	Wave exposure	Very Exposed Exposed Moderately Exposed Sheltered Very Sheltered Extremely Sheltered
Tidal stream strength/Water flow	Strong (3-6 kn) Moderately Strong (1-3 kn) Weak (<1 kn) Very Weak (negligible)	Salinity	Full (30-40 psu)
Habitat Preferences Additional Information
Distribution References	Hayward & Ryland, 1995b, Hayward et al., 1996, Fish & Fish, 1996, Castric-Fey, 1983, Segrove, 1941, Bacescu, 1972, Price et al., 1980, Crisp, 1965, OECD, 1967, Burnell et al., 1991, Rubin, 1985, Hayward & Ryland, 1995b,