Marine invertebrates

Scotland's extensive and varied coast and sea support a staggering array of invertebrates and their habitats, including commercially exploited species such as crabs, lobsters, scallops, cockles and langoustine. Follow the links below to learn about just a few of our many special marine invertebrates.

Tube anemones

Find out about the huge fireworks anemone and a Scottish speciality only found in a few places on the west coast.

Northern Seafan

You don't need to visit the tropics to see sea fans. The elegant northern seafan thrives off our west coast.

Northern feather star

The northern feather star is normally a deep water species but western Scotland is unique in having shallow water examples in depths of around 20m.

Crayfish

Crayfish fisheries provide small but locally important industries, but populations of this beautiful animal have declined considerably since the 1970s.

Fan mussel

The fan mussel is our largest British seashell, with the paired valves reaching an impressive 30cm long.

Horsemussel beds

Horse mussels form beds and reefs which stabilise mobile seabeds, creating a home for many other creatures, and good feeding grounds for young fish.

Flame shell beds

Flame shells are beautiful bivalve molluscs about 4cm long, with a spectacular fringe of orange tentacles.

Cold water coral

Coral reefs are not just confined to the tropics - we have our own here in Scotland!

Serpulid reefs

In a few special places, hundreds of serpulid tubeworms grow together forming bush like structures or 'reefs'.