Protodorvillea kefersteini and other polychaetes in impoverished Atlantic circalittoral mixed gravelly sand

Description (English)

In coarse gravelly or shelly sand sometimes with a slight mud content, along open coasts in depths of 10 to 30m, and in shallower offshore areas, an impoverished community characterised by Protodorvillea kefersteini may be found. This biotope has a number of other species associated with it including Nemertea spp., Caulleriella zetlandica, Minuspio cirrifera, Glycera lapidum, Ampelisca spinipes and numerous other polychaete species all occurring at low abundances. The polychaete Sabellaria spinulosa is also found in low numbers in this biotope.
Situation: This biotope has been reported in the North Sea along the Norfolk/Lincolnshire coast located in and around marine aggregate dredging areas (IECS, 1999).
Temporal variation: This biotope may be quite variable both spatially and temporally in terms community structure and also sediment type which is often borderline between coarse sediments & subunits and mixed sediments and subunits.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification