Species point records from 1984 Smith west Sutherland survey

This survey took place during the latter half of July 1984, covering the shore and inshore waters of west Sutherland between Droman Pier and Badcall Bay. 11 shore and 58 sublittoral sites were investigated. Aims: 1. Carry out survey of sublittoral habitats; 2. Revisit shore stations surveyed in 1979 (Smith, 1981); 3. Investigate Obs and lagoons. Sublittoral was lacking in diversity of species. Much of rock surface grazed down to encrusting calcareous algae by Echinus esculentus, there being a notable lack of red algae. The dominant phylum was Echinodermata, with their large size and weight of numbers. In contrast to the rocky area, the muddy bottoms were of considerable interest and several species not often recorded by divers were found, e.g. Edwardsia claperdi, Trichobranchus glacialis, Chaetoderma nitidulum and Philbertia purpuea. Sites worthy of further investigation are the muddy parts of Loch Inchard and Loch Laxford, especially Loch A'Chadh-fi, and all the waters around Handa. In all, nearly 500 species of plants and animals were identified. The 4 lagoon stations were examined most carefully and Lochan nam Meallan and Struth Mor were found to be less rich than they were in 1979. Struth Mor and Lochan na Fionnadalach Bige were a slight disappointment and judgement is reserved on them. Loch Ceann na Saile was of limited interest. Loch an Roin would repay further study and this station is assessed as Grade 1 - 2. Rubha Shios was a very prolific area and is assessed as Grade 3 - 4. Records currently considered sensitive have been removed from this dataset.