2018 at a glance...

In 2018 we:

surveyed nine sites

conducted three timed species searches and two

biodiversity transect surveys

were joined by a total of 92 individual volunteers

accumulated 383 hours of volunteer time

made 696 recordings across the sites

recorded a total of 178 different taxa

beat the number of taxa recorded last year by 36!

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Quadrat survey at Pett Level

Surveying at Bexhill Spotting a cuttlefish at The Pound

Where did we go?

Contains Ordinance Survey Data © Crown copyright and database right 2018

This site is a part of the Selsey Bill & The Hounds

recommended Marine Conservation Zone. The beach

is shingle in the upper part and reveals an area of clay

exposures at low tide. The beach also has a large, man-

made sea defence which was hugely interesting to

survey.

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Sadly we were unable to carry out the scheduled survey at

Worthing Pipe this year due to it being removed as part of

the construction of the Rampion Wind Farm.

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What did we find?

With a total of 83 species, Saltdean had the highest number of species identified by far, however this was

also the site with the most volunteers - and also benefitted from the expertise of Lin Baldock, who ran the

seaweeds course the following day, identifying a number of obscure specimens collected at this site!

Peacehaven was the second most diverse site, with 61 species, and The Pound was a close third, with 57

species.

Most taxonomic groupings were each represented at all sites, with the exception of porifera (sponges),

which were not present at Bexhill or Pett Level, tunicata (sea squirts), which were not present at Pett Level

or Peacehaven, pisces (fish), which were not found at Thornham Point, and echinodermata, which were only

noted at half of the sites - Saltdean, Bexhill, Selsey, Pett Level and Peacehaven.

What did we find?

Algae: seaweeds: reds, browns and

greens

Annelida: worms: burrowing, free-living,

tube-dwelling

Bryozoa: bryozoans (“moss animals”)

Cnideria: anemones, hydroids, jellyfish

Crustacea: crabs, lobsters, shrimps, prawns,

amphipods, barnacles

Echinodermata: starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins

Mollusca: snails, bivalves, sea slugs,

cephalopods

Pisces: fish: bony and cartilaginous

Porifera: sponges

Tunicata: sea squirts

A total of 178 species were identified during Shoresearch

this year. This pie charts shows the proportion of each

taxonomic grouping.

Algae: 47 species. Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) was identified at all sites; sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) and gut

weed (Ulva sp.) were also commonly found.

Mollusca: 35 species. Limpets (Patella sp.) were seen at all sites; grey and purple top shells (Steromphala

cineraria, S. umbilicalis) were found at most sites.

Crustacea: 32 species. Acorn barnacles (Semibalanus balanoides) and green shore crabs (Carcinus maenas)

were identified at all sites.

Annelida: 19 species. Most commonly found was the tube worm, Spirobranchus triqueter , and the sand mason

worm, Lanice conchilega.

Cnideria: 13 species. The beadlet anemone, Actinia equina, was found at most sites; the elegant anemone,

Sagartia troglodytes, was also identified at a number of sites.

Tunicata: 12 species. No one species was found across many sites; most common was the orange-tipped sea

squirt (Corella eumyota), identified at four sites, and sea grapes (Molgula sp.), identified at three sites.

Pisces: 7 species. Seen most commonly were shannies (Lipophrys pholis) and gobies (Pomatoschistus sp.).

Porifera: 6 species. The breadcrumb sponge (Halichondria panacea) was seen most frequently - at six sites.

Bryozoa: 4 species. Sea mat (Membranipora membranacea) was identified at seven sites.

Echinodermata: 3 species. The small brittle star (Amphipholis squamata) was the only species identified at more

than one site.

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Common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis

The Pound

Nudibranch, Facelina auriculata

The Pound

Hermit crab, Diogenes pugilator

Selsey

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Spider crab, Pisa tetraodon

Elmer Rocks

Colonial sea squirt, Botrylloides leachii

Thornham Point

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Nudibranch, Aeolidia alderi

Thornham Point

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Montagu’s sea snail, Liparis montagui

Selsey

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Green sponge fingers, Codium fragile

Bognor Rocks

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Snapping prawn, Alpheus macrocheles

The Pound

Favourite Returning Characters... P

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Irish Moss

Chondrus crispus

Green shore crab

Carcinus maenas

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Grey top shell

Steromphala cinerarea

Broad-clawed porcelain crab

Porcellana platycheles

Beadlet anemone

Actinia equina

Frosted sea mat

Electra pilosa

Sand mason worms

Lanice conchilega

Common limpet

Patella sp.

Shanny

Lipophrys pholis

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Shoresearch 2019...

Date Time Location

Wednesday 15th May 13:30 Saltdean

Friday 31st May 14:30 Bexhill

Monday 3rd June 15:00 The Pound, Eastbourne

Thursday 13th June 13:00 Selsey

Tuesday 2nd July 16:00 Peacehaven

Monday 8th July 09:00 Pett Level

Tuesday 9th July 09:45 Goring Pipe

Wednesday 31st July 15:30 Elmer Rocks

Wednesday 28th August 14:00 Seven Sisters

Thursday 29th August 14:00 Chichester Harbour

Friday 13th September 16:00 Bognor Rocks

Get in touch...

Sarah Ward - Living Seas Officer

sarahward@sussexwt.org.uk

01273 497572

Sussex Wildlife Trust

Woods Mill

Henfield

West Sussex

BN5 9SD

Registered Charity No: 207005

Many thanks to all volunteers who participated on Shoresearch this year..:

Keith Alexander, Julie Ashdown, Allison Atterbury, Diana Benton, Chris Bohea, Chris Browning, Katie Bye, Mark Clayton, Ros Clayton, Deb Cotter,

George Curd, Dan Davies, Andy Dinsdale, Uwe Dornbush, Hannah Elms, Jenny Etienne, Des Farrow, Jacquie Farrow, Charlotte Fordham, Sarah

Fordham, Andy Fordyce, Julie Fordyce, Helen Frost, Brittney Francis, Christopher Glanfield, Mike Goff, John Gray, Polly Gray, Carole Green, Eric

Green, Tom Green, Rich Gurr, Steve Hall, Paula Harrington, Jackie Harvey, Dom Henly, David Hill, Nick Hollington, Carol Holt, Janet Howell, Jim

Howell, Pete Hughes, Peter Hunnisett, Val Hunnisett, Rebecca Jennings, Sue Johnson, Evan Jones, Louise Kenward, Nicola Knight, Ed Lim, Liz Lumb,

Alexander Lee, Jo Matthews, Clare Mayers, Sarah McKenzie, Bev Miller, Penny Murray, Kat Nelson, Glyn Nicholson-Ross, Jocelyn Owen, Nick Philips,

Haz Purcell, Nick Redman, Sarah Roberts, Nick Rogers, Daniel Riva, Stephen Salmon, Claire Saxby, Tom Scott, Sarah Seal, Barbara Shaw, Sharon

Sheffield, Frances Smith, Peter Smith, Oliver Sterno, Alice Tebb, Simone Thorn, David Thomas, Julian Thompson, Colin Toovey, J. Turner, M. Turner,

Keith Viney, Ian Walker, Rob Walker, Jules Watts, Paul Watts, Elaine Welsh, M. Yates, Simon Young.

Special thanks to Gerald Legg for his continued support and valuable expertise.

Shoresearch training / refresher afternoon

- Wednesday 1st May

- 12:00 classroom session

- 14:30 beach session

- Birling Gap

- Booking essential!