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IR.MIR.KR.Lhyp.Ft Laminaria hyperborea forest and foliose red seaweeds on moderately exposed upper infralittoral rock
Moderately exposed upper infralittoral bedrock and boulders characterised by a dense forest of Laminaria hyperborea with dense foliose red seaweeds beneath the canopy. These include Metacallophyllis laciniata, Plocamium cartilagineum, Cryptopleura ramosa and Delesseria sanguinea. Kelp stipes are usually covered in a rich mixture of red seaweeds of which Palmaria palmata, Phycodrys rubens and Membranoptera alata are often present. Small kelp plants can also be found on the larger kelp stipes. Kelp fronds may be covered with a hydroid growth of Obelia geniculata or the bryozoans Membranipora membranacea and Electra pilosa. The kelp holdfasts can be colonised by bryozoans Scrupocellaria spp. and/or crisiids and colonial ascidians such as Botryllus schlosseri. The rock surface between the kelp plants is generally covered by encrusting coralline algae, often with sponge crusts Halichondria panicea. Small vertical surfaces within the kelp forest generally lack kelp plants, instead being characterised by foliose red seaweeds such as Dictyota dichotoma, the anthozoans Alcyonium digitatum, Urticina felina and Caryophyllia smithii, the tube-building polychaete Spirobranchus triqueter and gastropods including Calliostoma zizyphinum and Steromphala cineraria. Many grazers are found in the kelp forest, the most commonly occurring being the gastropods Steromphala cineraria and Calliostoma zizyphinum and the echinoderm Echinus esculentus. Other echinoderms present include Asterias rubens and Antedon bifida which can be locally abundant, particularly in the north-west.