Fucus serratus on full salinity lower eulittoral mixed substrata

Description (English)

Sheltered to extremely sheltered full salinity lower eulittoral mixed substrata with dense stands of the wrack Fucus serratus. The crab Carcinus maenas and a large number of winkles such as Littorina littorea and Littorina obtusata/mariae can be found amongst the pebbles and cobbles as well as large individuals of the mussel Mytilus edulis, commonly occurring in clumps. On these mussels and on larger cobbles are the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides and the limpet Patella vulgata. Red algae such as coralline crusts including Lithothamnion spp. and the tube-forming polychaetes Pomatoceros triqueter and Spirorbis spp. can be found on cobbles and boulders. Spirorbis spp. can also be found on the F. serratus fronds. Sediment in the spaces between the loose substrata may support infauna including the polychaete Arenicola marina. The red seaweed Mastocarpus stellatus and the wrack Ascophyllum nodosum can occur in patches, while the green seaweeds Enteromorpha intestinalis and Cladophora spp. can be found among the mussels and underneath the F. serratus canopy.
Situation: This unit occurs in the lower eulittoral below the biotopes dominated by the wrack Fucus vesiculosus and A. nodosum (MA1-23D2 or MA1-23E2) on mixed substrata shores, or on sediment shores where mixed substrata occurs in discrete patches on the lower shore. MA1-23D2 occurs above biotopes dominated by the kelp Laminaria digitata or Laminaria saccharina (MB1-2171; MB1-23A1; MB1-2391) depending on the substrata.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification