The shore at Vatersay is comprised of
sand with pebbles and cobbles forming a bank on the upper shore. There is a
rock out crop along the beach in which coralline rock pools can be found.
Within these rock pools the corraline
crusts dominate with Corallina
officinalis occurring around the edges and ephemeral green seaweeds and
Osumdea spp. occurring in patches
within the pools.
Limpet grazing restricts further
algae growth and limits larval settlement of other species so that mussels are
confined to crevices and barnacles occur in sporadic clumps.
Below are photographs of
some of the organisms encountered whilst rock pooling in this habitat:
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| Vatersay |
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| Ringed Plover breeding in the pebbles/cobble bank of the upper shore. Biotope description: LS.LCS.Sh.BarSh (Barren littoral Shingle) |
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| Coralline rockpools, Biotope description: LR.FLR.Rkp.Cor (Coralline crust- dominated shallow eulittoral rockpools). Limpets, Patella vulgata occur on the edges of the rockpools and the blue mussel, Mytulis edulis occurs within crevices, green seaweeds and Corallina officinalis occur as patches within the rockpools. |
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| Corallina officinalis on the edge of the rockpool. |
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