Use of the photo method in the study of the composition and abundance of soft-bottom macrobenthos

Review of the functional morphology, biology and perturbation impacts on the boreal, habitat-forming horse musselModiolus modiolus(Bivalvia: Mytilidae: Modiolinae)

“…Subsequently, biogenic habitats formed by M. modiolus have been recorded widely from northern Atlantic and Pacific waters. The ecological importance of M. modiolus as a habitat for a diverse associated biota has been reported upon from the North Atlantic and adjacent seas (Petersen 1918;Spärck 1929Spärck , 1935Spärck , 1937Einarsson 1941;Thorson 1950Thorson , 1957Jones 1951;Roberts 1975;Noble et al 1976;Warwick & Davies 1977;Comely 1978;Logan et al 1984;Sebens 1985;Witman 1985Witman , 1987Davoult et al 1988;Ojeda & Dearborn 1989;Brown 1990;Magorrian 1996;Dinesen 1999;Mair et al 2000;Dinesen & Bruntse 2001;Moore et al 2006;Lindenbaum et al 2008;Rees et al 2008;Sanderson et al 2008;Rees 2009;Roberts et al 2011;Solyanko et al 2011;Ragnarsson & Burgos 2012) and Northeast Pacific coastal shelf areas (Shelford 1935;Soot-Ryen 1955;Selin 2011). Modiolus modiolus aggregations include three major community components: (1) a single dense layer of living individuals residing on top of shell debris and supporting a community of sessile epifauna (and epiflora in the photic zone); (2) a mobile megafauna of suspension-feeders, grazers, predators and scavengers; and (3) an either mobile or sedentary macrofauna living in crevices and among the intertwined byssus threads.…”