Marine Biodiversity Data Portal - NI

Murlough Bay, NE Coast.

[Site list for year 1985]

Survey number: 555 Event number: 19850421/21 Date: 1985-04-21 GPS: 55.20783,-6.11383. Depth: 3.5 to 0.2 m. [ View map ]

Site Description: The location consists of metamorphic ridges, sandstone platforms and small ridges and metamorphic and sandstone boulders. The ridges are generally very large, and the littoral region exists in the vertical and steep rock of the slides. The large ridge zonation was a splash zone of littorinids with Patella and Fucus serratus occupying most of the upper and lower intertidal respectively. The occasional tufted Ascophyllum occurred. The sandstone platform had a fucoid zonation and the occasional area of Patella, Mastocarpus and Himanthalia occur at the low water. The site chosen for the transect was a ridged area of metamorphic rock situated between a sandstone platform and a large rock ridge. This again had a fucoid zonation, but appeared much richer than other areas. These ridges extended from the shingle upper shore to large and medium boulders on the lower shore. The site had boulders in the middle shore towards the large ridge. Small islands were formed at low water by rock ridges rising above the surface. These had a similar zonation pattern to the large rock ridges.