Crustose sponges and colonial ascidians with Dendrodoa grossularia or barnacles on wave-surged Atlantic infralittoral rock

Description (English)

Vertical and overhanging, exposed to moderately exposed bedrock gullies, tunnels and cave entrances subject to wave surge, and dominated by the crustose sponges Halichondria panicea, Myxilla incrustans, Clathrina coriacea, Leucosolenia botryoides, Esperiopsis fucorum and Grantia compressa. There may also be dense aggregations of the anthozoan Sagartia elegans, dwarf Metridium senile, Alcyonium digitatum, and Urticina felina, and a dense covering of the barnacle Balanus crenatus on the bare rock face. Dense aggregations of the robust hydroid Tubularia indivisa may be recorded, growing through the sponge crust. Colonial ascidians such as Polyclinum aurantium, Botryllus schlosseri, Botrylloides leachi, Aplidium nordmanni and the solitary ascidian Dendrodoa grossularia may all be recorded. The echinoderms Asterias rubens, Echinus esculentus, Henricia sp., the crab Cancer pagurus and the calcareous tubeworm Pomatoceros triqueter may also be present on the rock face, along with encrusting coralline algae.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification