Biocenosis of Mediterranean coastal detritic bottoms (without rodolithes)

Description (English)

These communities occur on a substratum whose nature varies widely and depends largely on the typology of the nearby coast and of nearby infralittoral formations. This implies that substrata can sometimes be gravels and sands originating from predominant local rocks, sometimes shell debris from various molluscs, sometimes debris from branched bryozoans or debris of dead and more or less corroded Melobesiae. The interstices between these various components are partially filled by a greater or lesser proportion of sand and mud. The muddy portion is usually less than 20%, but various more or less muddy types exist. Fragmentation of the debris is not due to the always weak hydrodynamics, but to the action of organisms that attack the limestone (Cliona spp., Polydora spp., lithophagous Pelecypoda, etc. However, the regular or intermittent existence of bottom currents has frequently been stressed.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification