Monday 18 August 2014

Rockpooling destination: Great Bay, St. Martins April 2014

The rocky shore comprises a bedrock outcrop with crevices and rockpools. The shore is charectersied by a patch work of barnacles and fucoid seaweeds, with fucoid density increasing as the low tide mark is approached. Coralline rockpools occur throughout the shore with species diversity increasing as you go down the shore.

Habitat classification:
Substrate
LR (Littoral rock)
Habitat
LR.MLR (Moderate energy littoral rock)
LR.FLR (Features of ilttoral rock)
Biotope complex
LR.MLR.BF (Barnacles and fucoids on moderately exposed shores)
LR.FLR.Rkp (Rockpools)
Biotope
LR.MLR.BF.FspiB (Fucus spiralis on full salinity exposed to moderately exposed upper eulittoral rock)
LR.MLR.BF.Fser (Fucus serratus on moderately exposed eulittoral rock)

LR.FLR.Rkp.Cor (Corallina officinalis, coralline crusts and brown seaweeds in shallow eulittoral rockpools)
Sub Biotope



 LR.FLR.Rkp.Cor.Bif (Bifurcaria bifurcate in shallow eulittoral rockpools)


Below are images of organisms that you may encounter whilst rockpooling in this habitat:


The rockyshore comprises bedrock that gently slopes toward the low water mark amongst which are crevices and rockpools. Fucoids and barnacles form a mosaic across the shore. Habitat classification: LR.MLR.BF (Barnacles and fucoids on moderately exposed shores).


Barnacles on the upper shore.

Small periwinkles (Melarhaphe neritoides) use the dead test of a barnacle as a refuge from the desiccating effects of the sun and wind.

Lichina pygmaea
Spiral wrack (Fucus spiralis), barnacles, limpets (Patella sp.), beadlet anemones (Actinia equina), dog whelk (Nucella lapillus) and Lichina pygmaea on the upper shore. Habitat classification: LR.MLR.BF.FspiB (Fucus spiralis on full salinity exposed to moderately exposed upper eulittoral rock).

Limpets (Patella sp), Osmoundea sp, Spiral wrack (Fucus spiralis) and the dead tests of barnacles.

A coralline rockpool surrounded by serrated wrack (Fucus serratus) and barnacles. Habitat classification: LR.FLR.Rkp.Cor (Corallina officinalis, coralline crusts and brown seaweeds in shallow eulittoral rockpools) and LR.MLR.BF.Fser (Fucus serratus on moderately exposed eulittoral rock.

A coralline rockpool with Corallina officinalis and other seaweeds. 

A coralline pool with Corallina officinalis and pink plates (Mesophyllum lichenoides). 


A coralline rockpool on the lower shore with abundant ephemeral green algae growth and dominated by brown forking weed (Bifurcaria bifurcata). Habitat classification: LR.FLR.Rkp.Cor.Bif (Bifurcaria bifurcata in shallow eulittoral rockpools)

A red seaweed within a coralline pool

A red seaweed within a coralline pool

A red seaweed within a coralline pool



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