Table - Characteristic and representative species of Zostera beds in the UK

Characteristic and representative species of Zostera beds in Britain

Some examples of characteristic species of Zostera beds in Britain

Characteristic species are those that are considered to be special to (rare or at the limits of their distribution) or are especially abundant in a particular biotope. They are generally immediately conspicuous and easily identified (K. Hiscock 1996).
COMMON NAME	SPECIES	DETAILS
Stalked jellyfish	Haliclystus auricula Lucernariopsis campanulata	Widespread South-west distribution
Common cuttlefish	Sepia officinalis	Southern distribution
Little cuttlefish	Sepiola atlantica
Seahorse	Hippocampus ramulosis	Reaches its northern limit along the south-west coast
Seahorse	H. hippocampus	Possibly occurs on the south-west coast
Broad-nosed pipefish Snake pipefish	Entelurus aequoraeus Syngathus typhie	Both are almost totally restricted to eelgrass beds, south and east coasts
Hydroid	Laomedea angulata	A distinctive shallow water hydroid whose substrate appears to be totally restricted to Z. marina. Few hydroids are so substrate specific. Was thought to have disappeared from Britain after the eelgrass wasting disease epidemic of the 1930s. In 1981, it was found on Z. marina leaves in Studland Bay, Dorset and in a small bed, just north of Misery Point in the River Yealm, Plymouth Sound. Cornelius (1982) suggested that it may be dispersed on detached, floating Zostera sp. leaves and that perhaps these populations had re-colonised previous habitats from European populations.
Red algae	Polysiphonia harveyii Rhodophysema georgii	Was unintentionally introduced to the British Isles before 1908 with oysters This diminutive crustose red algal epiphyte is host specific to Z. marina.
Green algae	Cladophora etroflex C. battersii Entocladia perforans	Both are very rare and have only been recorded in a few locations on the south coast of England and the west coast of Ireland. This microscopic green alga is an endophyte and host specific to Zostera species.
Brown algae	Halothrix lumbricalis Leblondiella densa Myrionema magnusii Cladosiphon zosterae Punctaria crispata Cladosiphon contortus	These 3 small brown algal epiphytes are host-restricted to Zostera leaves. These 2 larger brown algae are also host-restricted to Zostera sp. leaves. This large brown alga occurs principally on Zostera rhizomes.

Representative species of Zostera beds in Britain

Representative species are those considered to be typical of a feature, habitat or community (K. Hiscock 1996) The other British seagrass species, Ruppia maritima and R. cirrhosa, may be found amongst Zostera beds.
MICROHABITAT: Surface of leaves and stems
GROUP	SPECIES	COMMON NAME
Algae	Films of ciliates and diatoms etc. Enteromorpha sp. Ectocarpus sp. Cladophora rectangularis Rhodophysema geogii Ceramium nodulosum Gracilaria gracilis Gracilariopsis longissima Polysiphonia sp. Brongniartella byssoides Dumontia contorta Stypocaulon scoparia Ulva lactuca Fucus serratus
Crustaceans	Gammarus insensibilis Idotea baltica I. linearis Praunus sp.	Amphipods Chameleon shrimps (mysids)

Molluscs	Rissoa membranacea Hydrobia ventrosa Bittium reticulatum Littorina littorea Calliostoma striatum C. montacuti Cantharidus striatus Jujubinus striatus Hinia reticulata Haminoea navicula Akera bullata Aplysia punctata Oscanius membranaceus Archidoris pseudoargus Cadlina obveolata Aeolis papillosa Alderia modesta	Spire shell Common or edible periwinkle Topshell Grooved topshell Netted dogwhelk All seaslugs
MICROHABITAT: On or in the sediment
GROUP	SPECIES	COMMON NAME
Bivalve molluscs	Cerastoderma edule C. glaucum C. exiguum Lucina/Lucinoma borealis Lepton sp. Mytilus edulis	Common or edible cockles Lagoonal cockle Little cockle Northern Lucina This and other commensal molluscs may be found in other species’ burrows Mussels, attached to old rhizomes
Worms	Arenicola marina Lanice conchilega Marphysa bellii Oerstedia dorsalis Myxicola infundibulum	Lugworm Sandmason worm Annelid worm, local & probably rare Ribbon worm Slime tubeworm
Echinoderms	Synapta digitata Paracentrotus lividus	Sea cucumber Sea Urchin, normally bores holes in rocks but often found amongst Zostera
Sipunculans	Phascolosoma pellucidum
Crustaceans	Upogebia sp.	Burrowing shrimps
Sea Anemones	Cereus pedunculatus Peachia hastata Nematostella vectensis	Daisy anemones Burrowing anemones Starlet anemone, typical of lagoon eelgrass beds
Fish	Gobiusculus flavescens Spinachia spinachia Ballanas sp. Anguilla anguilla Liza sp. Dicentrarchus labrax	2-spot goby 15-spined stickleback Small wrasse Eels Grey mullet Bass