|Basic Information||Biotope classification||Ecology||Habitat preferences and distribution||Species composition||Sensitivity||Importance|
Image Keith Hiscock - A mat of the filamentous bacterium Beggiatoa spp. Image width ca 10 cm.
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SS.SMu.IFiMu.Beg recorded () and expected () distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)
For a list of 2004 characterising species please see the JNCC website.
To assess the sensitivity of the biotope, the sensitivity of component species is reviewed. Those species that are considered to be particularly indicative of the sensitivity of the biotope, and for which research has been undertaken in detail are shown below (see selection criteria). The biology of other component species of the biotope is also taken into account wherever information is known to the researcher.
|Community Importance||Species name||Common Name|
|Important characterizing||Beggiatoa||A bacterium|
This biotope is characterized by mats of the bacterium Beggiatoa spp. Since no or very few other macrofaunal species at least are present in the biotope the sensitivity of Beggiatoa is probably representative of the sensitivity of the whole biotope.
The MNCR recorded 149 species in records of this biotope. However, only scavenging Carcinus maenas and Asterias rubens were recorded as common. Numerous other species occur at low abundance or in only a few records of the biotope, probably reflecting the patchy nature of the Beggiatoa spp. mats.
This review can be cited as follows:
Hill, J.M. 2002. Beggiatoa spp. on anoxic sublittoral mud. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 01/03/2015]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/habitatreproduction.php?habitatid=181&code=2004>