Welsh Modiolus modiolus beds 2013: 2005 HABMAP survey cruise Caernarfon Bay

As part of the HABMAP project surveys were carried out in 5 areas in the summer of 2005. Survey work carried out in Caernarfon Bay showed this area was very diverse in terms of both its seabed features and benthic communities. The location of a well-documented horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) reef was clearly identified from multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data, and was sampled using video, SPI and grab samples. The area was rich in both infauna and epifauna, with a variety of different biotopes being recorded. Other features of the Caernarfon Bay survey area included an area of cobble and boulder ridges in the southwest with associated tide-swept epifaunal communities, and an area of muddy sediments in shallower waters to the east, with patches of stable cobbles that upported a rich seaweed and epifaunal community.