Black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) foraging areas (MPA search feature) (SNH WMS) (restricted zoom) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark. The MPA search features list has been progressed by JNCC, Marine Scotland and SNH to underpin the selection of Nature Conservation MPAs. It includes a subset of the PMFs, black guillemot (Cepphus grille), and several larger scale features. Black guillemot was included because it is a distinctively Scottish species which would benefit from spatial protection, but cannot be classified as a qualifying interest of SPAs.
This layer is a Web Map Service that shows the Black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) foraging areas.
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Tide swept algal communities - Fucoids in tide-swept conditions (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of Fucoids in tide-swept conditions (intertidal). This is a species rich complex habitat occurring in sea lochs, embayments and between islands in the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and the west and north-west of Scotland.
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Intertidal mudflats - Littoral mud (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of littoral mud. They are found all round the Scottish coast, some of the most notable examples are at Montrose Bay, the Firth of Tay, the Firth of Forth, the Inner Moray Firth and the Cromarty Firth. Mudflats are much undervalued because they tend not to be seen to be useful for recreation or other activities, yet they are vital habitat.
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Flame shell beds - Limaria hians beds in tide-swept sublittoral muddy mixed sediment (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of Limaria hians beds in tide-swept sublittoral muddy mixed sediment. These are most commonly found on mixed muddy gravel and sand in tide-swept narrows in sea lochs. They are scarce in the UK: the majority of records are from west Scotland and are considered of national importance. The most extensive beds are in Loch Sunart and Loch Fyne. Large beds once found in the Firth of Clyde have declined considerably.
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Horse mussel beds - Modiolus modiolus beds with hydroids and red seaweeds on tide-swept circalittoral mixed substrata (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of Horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) beds with hydroids and red seaweeds on tide swept circalittoral mixed substrata. They are found on the open coast and in tide-swept channels between 5-50m depth. The mussel beds support a diverse range of red seaweeds, sea firs, tube worms, molluscs and sea anemones. Recorded from Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides and west coast sea lochs, the majority of records are from Scotland.
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Horse mussel beds - Modiolus modiolus beds with fine hydroids and large solitary ascidians on very sheltered circalittoral mixed substrata (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of Horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) beds with fine hydroids and large solitary ascidians on very sheltered circalittoral mixed substrata. These are typically at depths of between 5-30m in very sheltered conditions, the mussel beds support a variety of brittlestars, scallops, crabs and gastropods. Found in Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides and west coast sea lochs, it is not found anywhere else outside Scotland.
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Horse mussel beds - Modiolus modiolus beds with Chlamys varia, sponges, hydroids and bryozoans on slightly tide-swept very sheltered circalittoral mixed substrata (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of Horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) beds with Chlamys varia, sponges, hydroids and bryozoans on slightly tide-swept very sheltered circalittoral mixed substrata. They are found in very sheltered conditions at depths of between 5-30m, the mussel beds support a variety of organisms including the variable scallop, brittlestars, feather stars, crabs, sponges, sea firs, sea mats, and sea squirts. Only a few records occur from the west coast sea lochs, Skye and Bluemull Sound, Shetland.
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Kelp beds - Laminaria hyperborea forest with a faunal cushion (sponges and polyclinids) and foliose red seaweeds on very exposed upper infralittoral rock (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of beds of Kelp Laminaria hyperborea forest with a faunal cushionand foliose red seaweeds on very exposed upper infralittoral rock.
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Kelp beds - Laminaria hyperborea with dense foliose red seaweeds on exposed infralittoral rock (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of Laminaria hyperborea with dense foliose red seaweeds on exposed infralittoral rock.
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Kelp beds - Laminaria hyperborea on tide-swept, infralittoral rock (Priority Marine Feature) (SNH WMS) |
The Priority Marine Feature (PMF) list contains 81 habitats and species considered to be of conservation importance in Scotland's seas. It includes many features which are characteristic of the Scottish marine environment, ranging from flame shell beds in coastal waters, to cold-water coral reefs of the deeper seas, and mobile species such as minke whale and basking shark.
This layer shows the distribution of Laminaria hyperborea on tide-swept, infralittoral rock.
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