Habitats listed as Priority Marine Features (Scotland)

Priority Marine Features (PMFs) are habitats and species that are considered to be marine nature conservation priorities in Scottish waters. Existing conservation schedules were assessed against criteria that considered whether a significant proportion of the population occurred in Scotland's seas, whether they were under threat or in decline and the functional role they play. The list will help deliver Marine Scotland's vision for marine nature conservation outlined in the Marine Nature Conservation Strategy. Further detail: NatureScot

Available MarLIN information on the PMF habitats and their component biotopes is listed below.

Habitat listings

Blue mussel beds

Burrowed mud

Cold-water coral reefs

Coral Gardens

Deep-sea sponge aggregations

Flame shell beds

Horse mussel beds

Inshore deep mud with burrowing heart urchins

Intertidal mudflats

Kelp and seaweed communities on sublittoral sediment

Kelp beds

Low or variable salinity habitats

Maerl beds

Maerl or coarse shell gravel with burrowing sea cucumbers

Native oysters

Northern sea fan and sponge communities

Offshore deep sea muds

Offshore subtidal sands and gravels

Sea loch egg wrack beds

Seagrass beds

Serpulid aggregations

Submarine structures made by leaking gases

Tide-swept algal communities

Tide-swept coarse sands with burrowing bivalves