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Marine Habitat Classification


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1 result for 'IR.LIR.K.SLat.Pk'

   IR.LIR.K.SLat.Pk  Saccharina latissima park on very sheltered lower infralittoral rock

Silty bedrock or boulders with a Saccharina latissima park (often the cape-form). Beneath the canopy, the rock is covered by encrusting coralline algae, and the urchin Echinus esculentus is often present. Due to the amount of silt cover on the rock and the reduced light intensity beneath the broad-fronded kelp, only a few red seaweeds typically survive, the most common species being Phycodrys rubens, Delesseria sanguinea, Bonnemaisonia spp. and Vertebrata byssoides. The brown seaweeds Dictyota dichotoma and Cutleria multifida may be present in low abundance. Compared to the kelp forest zone above (Lsac.Ft) both the kelp and other seaweeds are sparse (Occasional). The most conspicuous animals are large solitary ascidians, particularly Ascidia mentula and Ciona intestinalis, together with the smaller Clavelina lepadiformis. In general, the faunal component of this biotope is similar to other sheltered kelp biotopes and includes a variety of mobile crustaceans such Carcinus maenas and Pagurus bernhardus, the keelworm Spirobranchus spp., terebellid worms, echinoderms Asterias rubens, Ophiothrix fragilis and the featherstar Antedon bifida. The hydroid Kirchenpauria pinnata, although only rare is often found in the kelp park along with the top shell Steromphala cineraria and the barnacle Balanus crenatus.
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