Identity:

Outcrops of fossilised peat in the eulittoral are soft enough to allow a variety of piddocks such as Barnea candida and Petricola pholadiformis to bore into them. The surface of the peat can be characterised by a dense algal mat, predominantly the red seaweed Ceramium spp. and with the green seaweeds Ulva lactuca and Enteromorpha intestinalis. Damp areas in the algal mat are covered by aggregations of the polychaetes Lanice conchilega and Polydora sp. The crabs Carcinus maenas and Cancer pagurus occur in crevices in the peat. Small pools on the peat may contain hydroids, such as Obelia longissima and Kirchenpaueria pinnata, the brown alga Dictyota dichotoma and the crustacean Crangon crangon. Description derived largely from sites in north Norfolk and this community could possibly be found on other "soft" substrata. Further records of this community are required in order to validate the description.