Common name: Flame shells
"This habitat has a restricted distribution in the North East Atlantic Region, with current known records confined to the west coast of Scotland and one sea lough in Ireland. There are no long term (>50 year) data sets, but more recent studies show that several known beds in Scotland have declined in extent and density of L. hians individuals since first studied in the late 1970's. In Ireland, the dense L. hians beds in Mulroy Bay reported in 1995 are no longer present in the southern section. Because of the decline in quantity and quality of this habitat in recent years, together with its narrow geographical distribution and the continuing threats, this habitat has been assessed as Vulnerable."
"Flame shell beds are likely to be sensitive to substratum loss, smothering, increased wave action, changes in water flow, physical disturbance, synthetic contaminants, increased nutrients, decreased salinity, and extraction. Flame shell beds are highly vulnerable to seabed trawling and dredging, evidence of this is found in the destruction of the once large beds in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. Other threats include coastal developments and coastal defences, disturbance by mooring chains and anchors and contamination by Tributyl Tin (TBT) a component of antifouling paint."
Source: European Red List of Habitats - Marine Habitat Group. (2015). Retrieved from European Environment Information and Observation Network, accessed on 2021-11-10.
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