County Wildife Site Criteria for Cornwall Appendices

MUD HABITATS IN DEEP WATER PHTGeneral DescriptionMud habitats in deep water occur below 20-30 m in many areas of Britain’s marine environment,including marine inlets such as sea lochs. The relatively stable conditions associated with deep mudhabitats often lead to the establishment of communities of burrowing megafaunal species wherebathyal species may occur with coastal species.These soft mud communities occur extensively throughout the more sheltered basins of sea lochs andvoes. As these sites are typically sheltered from wave action, these communities may occur in quiteshallow depths (15 m).Offshore mud habitats can be characterised by the burrowing urchin Brissopsis lyrifera and thebrittlestar Amphiura chiajei and in certain areas around the UK, such as the northern Irish Sea, thiscommunity may also include N. norvegicus.In boreal and Arctic areas of water deeper than 100 m, the soft muds are dominated by a communityof foraminiferans and hatchett shells Thyasira spp. with polychaete worms. There can be thousands ofdead foraminiferan tests per square metre.For this habitat we will take all areasAppendix 4 - Information Relating to Priority Habitat TypesCounty Wildlife Sites Criteria