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Dieren en planten

Animals   Marine fauna   Fauna of the sea floor   Communities   Fauna rocky substrates   Fauna in tidal areas   Benthic fauna   

Mens en Milieu

Coastal protection   Breakwaters   Sea dikes   Safety at sea   Wrecks   
Shore crab, Ecomare

Rocks, dams and dikes fauna

The Netherlands has no natural rocky coasts. However, it does have unnatural rocky coasts in the form of dikes and breakwaters, which also swarm with barnacles, mussel banks and sea anemones. All these species need a hard surface to anchor themselves to. Other fauna commonly found in this habitat are starfish, slaters, snails and crabs . The richness in food on the breakwaters and in the coastal water is the reason why birds, such as gulls, terns, and sometimes plovers or sanderlings, are often seen on the beach. Gravel beds are important spawning grounds for specific species, such as herring as well as sea anemones and polyps.

  • Second home in wrecks
    Barnacles, Ecomare

    Wrecks form a good anchoring surface for the same animals found on dikes and breakwaters. If a new hard anchoring surface is created somewhere, then it is usually colonized first by barnacles. The (lack of) roughness of the surface does not really matter for these animals; they have no problem holding on. When the barnacles die, a part of the calcium skeleton remains, making the surface rougher. When the surface is rough enough, seaweed is then able to 'root'.

    Because the seaweed offers shelter from predator fish, new types of fauna such as crabs, starfish and Baltic isopods will quickly settle in between this growth. Periwinkles and mussels also belong to the pioneer fauna; they, too, make it easier for seaweed to finally establish itself.
    In addition, shipwrecks and artificial reefs form good hiding places for fish, such as cod.