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Marine Habitat Classification


Description of biotope or habitat type

To understand more about what this page is describing, see How to use the classification. See also How to cite.

   Arctic mid bathyal mud


Physical habitat description

Salinity Full (30-35 ppt)
Wave exposure
Tidal streams
Substratum Mud
Zone Arctic mid bathyal
Depth Band 600 - 1100 m
Other Features

Download comparative physical and biological data. The comparative tables enable a rapid comparison of the species composition and principal physical characteristics between a given set of biotopes.

Distribution of habitat M.ArMB.Mu Arctic mid bathyal mud

  • Records used to define the biotope (core records)
  • Other records assigned to this biotope, marked as 'certain'
  • Other records assigned to this biotope, marked as 'uncertain'
  • Predicted extent of the level 3 (for sublittoral rock & deep sea) or 4 (for sublittoral sediment) habitat

Point data based on records in the UK Marine Recorder Snapshot. Predicted habitat extent is from UKSeaMap.

Description

Deep-sea mud sediments have a diverse infaunal community dominated by polychaetes. Epifauna tend to be sparse, mobile species, but aggregations of erect fauna such as glass sponges, seapens and soft corals can occur. In the absence of ecological data, mud habitat can be defined according to Long (2006), which describes the classification's broad sediment types according to the relative proportion of mud, sand and gravel (see http://www.emodnet-seabedhabitats.eu/PDF/GMHM3_Detailed_explanation_of_seabed_sediment_classification.pdf). Note that Folk muddy sand sediments are classed as mud habitat if the mud content is great enough to support species usually associated with mud. In the absence of particle size data it can be difficult to reliably distinguish between mud and sand.

Situation

No situation data available.

Temporal variation

No temporal variation data available.

Characterising species

Characterising species data not applicable.

Similar biotopes or habitat types

Not applicable or unknown.


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