THE largest Horse Mussel bed in Scotland, found in waters near Caithness, was just one of many discoveries made during a massive marine survey earlier this year.
Translated from Gaelic as “enormous black mouth”, these slow-growing molluscs can live to nearly 50 years old and help to stabilise mobile seabeds and provide a critical ecosystem for other species.
The bed, found near Noss Head, was just one of the wonders uncovered after 2000 square miles was surveyed to further the knowledge of the biodiversity of Scotland’s seas.
In the waters off Tankerness, in Orkney, the prehistoric “faceless and brainless fish” Amphioxus was found.
This elusive, rarely seen species is regarded as a modern representative of the first animals that evolved a backbone. With a nerve cord down its back, this strange fish has no specific brain or face.
Other finds included Flame Shell beds in Loch Linnhe, Argyll, a cryptic species with bright orange feeding tentacles only found in a very few west-coast locations.
Meanwhile new communities of Northern Feather Star – a brightly coloured species with 10 feather-like arms fanning out from a central disc – were revealed off the Sound of Canna.
The survey this year benefited from the use of the latest technology, with acoustic multi-beam scanners used to create 3D images of the seabed.
As a result, the first-ever marine maps of many new areas was possible, including within Sinclair Bay.
