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Concept: [Fabulina fabula] and [Magelona mirabilis] with venerid bivalves and amphipods in infralittoral compacted fine muddy sand in the eunishabitats vocabulary

Concept URI http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/eunishabitats/A5.242
Preferred label [Fabulina fabula] and [Magelona mirabilis] with venerid bivalves and amphipods in infralittoral compacted fine muddy sand
Definition In stable, fine, compacted sands and slightly muddy sands in the infralittoral and littoral fringe, communities occur that are dominated by venerid bivalves such as [Chamelea gallina]. This biotope may be characterised by a prevalence of [Fabulina fabula] and [Magelona mirabilis] or other species of [Magelona (e.g. [M. filiformis)]. Other taxa, including the amphipod [Bathyporeia] spp. and polychaetes such as [Chaetozone setosa], [Spiophanes bombyx] and [Nephtys] spp. are also commonly recorded. In some areas the bivalve [Spisula elliptica] may also occur in this biotope in low numbers. The community is relatively stable in its species composition, however, numbers of [Magelona] and [F. Fabulina] tend to fluctuate. Around the Scilly Isles numbers of [F. fabulina] in this biotope are uncommonly low whilst these taxa are often found in higher abundances in muddier communities (presumably due to the higher organic content). Consequently it may be better to revise this biotope on the basis of less ubiquitous taxa such as key amphipod species (E.I.S. Rees pers. comm. 2002) although more data is required to test this. FfabMag and MoeVen are collectively considered to be the 'shallow [Venus] community' or 'boreal off-shore sand association' of previous workers (see Petersen 1918; Jones 1950; Thorson 1957). These communities have been shown to correlate well with particular levels of current induced 'bed-stress' (Warwick & Uncles 1980). The 'Arctic [Venus] Community' and 'Mediterranean [Venus] Community' described to the north and south of the UK (Thorson 1957) probably occur in the same habitat and appears to be the same biotope described as the [Ophelia borealis] community in northern France and the central North Sea (Künitzer [et al]. 1992). Sites with this biotope may undergo transitions in community composition. The epibiotic biotopes EcorEns and AreISa may also overlay this biotope in some areas.
Notation A5.242
Status Valid
Status Modified 2014-01-31
Accepted Date 2014-01-31
Not Accepted Date
Has broader
Has exact match