Habitats listed as Priority Marine Features (Scotland)

Priority Marine Features (PMFs) are habitats and species that are considered to be marine nature conservation priorities in Scottish waters. Existing conservation schedules were assessed against criteria that considered whether a significant proportion of the population occurred in Scotland's seas, whether they were under threat or in decline and the functional role they play. The list will help deliver Marine Scotland's vision for marine nature conservation outlined in the Marine Nature Conservation Strategy. Further detail: NatureScot

Available MarLIN information on the PMF habitats and their component biotopes is listed below.

Habitat listings

Blue mussel beds
Burrowed mud
Cold-water coral reefs
Coral Gardens
Deep-sea sponge aggregations
Flame shell beds
Horse mussel beds
Inshore deep mud with burrowing heart urchins
Intertidal mudflats
Kelp and seaweed communities on sublittoral sediment
Kelp beds
Low or variable salinity habitats
Maerl beds
Maerl or coarse shell gravel with burrowing sea cucumbers
Native oysters
Northern sea fan and sponge communities
Offshore deep sea muds
Offshore subtidal sands and gravels
Sea loch egg wrack beds
Seagrass beds
Serpulid aggregations
Submarine structures made by leaking gases
Tide-swept algal communities
Tide-swept coarse sands with burrowing bivalves