Cornish Biodiversity Network - Supporting Wildlife Recording
The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Range & Status
A more southerly species which is commonly found in the Mediterranean and Black Sea where it occurs from the lower shore to shallow water of 5-15m depth on rocky shores, living amongst stones and seaweeds. The first and only specimen of this warmer water species in British waters was found in a net set for flat-fish in shallow water on sandy ground amongst rocky reefs at Downderry, south-east Cornwall in late September 2004. Elsewhere it is known from the Mediterranean area, Mauritania and the Azores, northwards to the south coast of Brittany.
I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.
The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.