BIOTIC

BIOTIC Species Information for Halichondria panicea
All Taxonomy Biology Distribution Reproduction

Researched by	Dr Keith Hiscock	Data supplied by	MarLIN
Refereed by	Dr Rob van Soest
Distribution and Habitat
Distribution in Britain & Ireland	Present all around Britain and Ireland.
Global distribution	North Atlantic from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean but not extending far into the Baltic.
Biogeographic range	Not researched	Depth range	Intertidal to ca 569 m
Migratory	Non-migratory / Resident
Distribution Additional Information	Burton (1959, cited in Vethaak et al., 1982) considered Halichondria panicea to be cosmopolitan in distribution. Alander (1942, cited in Vethaak et al., 1982) recorded Halichondria panicea at 569 m depth off the Swedish coast.

Substratum preferences	Bedrock Cobbles Large to very large boulders Small boulders	Physiographic preferences	Open coast Strait / sound Sealoch Ria / Voe Estuary Isolated saline water (Lagoon) Enclosed coast / Embayment
Biological zone	Mid Eulittoral Lower Eulittoral Sublittoral Fringe Upper Infralittoral Lower Infralittoral Upper Circalittoral Lower Circalittoral	Wave exposure	Extremely Exposed Very Exposed Exposed Moderately Exposed Sheltered Very Sheltered Extremely Sheltered Ultra Sheltered
Tidal stream strength/Water flow	Very Strong (>6 kn) Strong (3-6 kn) Moderately Strong (1-3 kn) Weak (<1 kn)	Salinity	Variable (18-40 psu) Full (30-40 psu) Reduced (18-30 psu)
Habitat Preferences Additional Information	Halichondria panicea occurs on kelp stipes where it may dominate in tidal rapids and on other algae such as Halidrys siliquosa (sea oak). In low or variable salinity (for instance, in the western Baltic), it may be found encrusting predominantly on red algae such as Phyllophora sp. and Phycodrys sp. (Barthel, 1988). Halichondria panicea was found growing on tunicates (especially the invasive leathery sea squirt Styela clava) and molluscs in the Oosterschelde (Vethaak et al., 1982).
Distribution References	Barthel, 1988, Campbell, 1994, Birkett et al., 1998(b), Barnes, 1980, Vethaak et al., 1982, Burton, 1959, Alander, 1942,