Marine Biodiversity Data Portal - NI
Herring Bay, Strangford Lough.
Survey number: 555 Event number: 19850623/21 Date: 1985-06-23 GPS: 54.50983,-5.55200. Depth: 3.5 to 0.2 m. [ View map ]
Site Description: The site was an enclosed sandy bay. The top of the intertidal region at the sides of the bay is composed of cobbles and small boulders. These are dominated by barnacles, littorinids and Hydropunctaria maura (orginally recorded as Verrucaria maura. Lines of boulders stretch across the sand of the lower half of the bay which were formerly used for seaweed cultivation. These are covered by Mytilus edulis with Semibalanus balanoides (a few Patella vulgata) or by Ascophyllum and Fucus vesiculosus. The sediment is mainly fine and medium sand with some mud, finer on the lower shore than the upper. The black layer is usually close to the surface. There are localised outcrops of clay and coarse sand. The inner part of the bay supports the growth of extensive Zostera mats. The main bivalves found were Tellina on the lower shore, and Cerastoderma, Macoma and Mya on the upper. Nephtys and other polychaetes were common throughout the intertidal. General collections were made from the intertidal boulders and the boulders at the top of the shore. 10-15 Arenicola casts per sq. metre were present at all levels on the shore.
No images for site.
Species list (23 species recorded)
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