A3_124_Infralittoral_cobbles_pebbles_and_hard_rock_T2.2.

Abstract

EUNIS classification_A3_124_Infralittoral_cobbles_pebbles_and_hard_rock_

Wave-exposed seasonally mobile substrata (pebbles, cobbles) dominated by dense stands of the brown seaweed [Desmarestia aculeata] and/or [Desmarestia ligulata]. Infralittoral pebbles and cobbles that are scoured through mobility during storms, but become stable in the summer allowing the growth of such algae as [Desmarestia] spp. Filamentous red seaweeds such [as Bonnemaisonia asparagoides] and [Brongniartella byssoides] are usually present. Stunted individuals of the kelp such as [Laminaria hyperborea] and [Laminaria saccharina] may be present where bedrock is available. A variety of foliose red seaweeds such as [Cryptopleura ramosa, Chondrus crispus], [Plocamium cartilagineum, Hypoglossum hypoglossoides] and [Nitophyllum punctatum] may on occasion be present underneath the kelp canopy. Other red algae including [Corallina officinalis], [Rhodomela confervoides] and coralline crusts including [Lithothamnion] spp. may be present as well as well as the foliose brown seaweed [Dictyota dichotoma] and the green [Enteromorpha intestinalis]. Due to the nature of this biotope the faunal component is very impoverished though the gastropod [Gibbula cineraria] can be found among the cobbles.

Situation: Often a narrow zone on mixed substrata below a stable zone of kelp on bedrock. Where seasonally mobile substrata affect nearby bedrock this biotope may occur in place of kelp forest.

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