Marine Species Survey

Complete this form if you see any of the species below. They are all plants and animals that may be new to the area or are of particular interest to us for their conservation status.

How to complete this form:

  1. Complete your details and information about your dive / shore visit (we may need to contact you to verify any details)
  2. Tick the target species you saw, estimate abundance of each species: rare (R) = only 1 or 2 seen, occasional (O) = quite a few seen, common (C) = many seen (tick as appropriate), fill in the depth you saw it at (if appropriate) and if you took any photos.

Comments or questions are welcome.

*(denotes required field)

Angler Fish (Lophius piscatorius)

A large bottom dwelling fish, most often spotted on a sandy, gravelly seabed where it lies in wait for its unsuspecting prey. Size up to 1m in length


Ling (Molva molva)

A long, thin fish with 2 dorsal fins. Its upper jaw protects beyond the lower jaw which bears a pronounced sensory barbel. Size: up to 2m in length


Snake pipefish (Entelurus aequoreus)

An eel-like fish which is light brown to orange in colour with vertical white stripes. Often encountered hiding amongst seaweed. Size: up to 50cm in length


Tompot blenny (parablennius gattorugine)

A colourful, inquisitive blenny with branched tentacles above each eye. Size: up to 30cm in length


Red mullet (Mullus surmuletus)

A bottom dwelling fish with a pair of long barbels beneath its chin and a red and brown colouration to its body. Size: up to 40cm in length


Spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas)

A large lobster with a spiny shell. Typically orange in colour with 2 long antennae and hook-like claws. Size: up to 60cm in length


Jewel anemone (Corynactis viridis)

A small anemone with knobbled tenacles that come in a variety of colours including green, pink and orange. Often found in dense patches encrusting over wrecks and reef. Size: 1.5cm across the tentacles


Horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus)

A large mussel, blue-brown in colour, often found buried in the seabed with the protruding shell overgrown with other species. Size: shell up to 20cm in length


Slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata)

An oval shell, often found in curved chains of up to 12 animals attached to stones or other shells on a soft sediment seabed. Size: shell up to 5cm in length


Wire weed (Sargassum muticum)

A large seaweed, olive-brown in colour with spherical gas bladders along its branches which allow it to float up towards the surface. Size: fronds often more than 1m in length


Leathery sea squirt (Styela clava)

A solitary sea squirt with a long club-shaped body. The surface of the sea squirt can be leathery with fold and swellings. Size: up to 12cm tall


Carpet sea squirt (Didemnum vexillum)

A colonial sea squirt that encrusts over rocks,other marine life and underwater structures forming large mats which are tan in colour. Size: mats can be up to 1m in length


Snakelocks anemone (Anemonia viridis)

A large anemone with long tentacles which are green with purple tips or brown in colour. Often spotted in rockpools. Size up to 15cm across the tentacles

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