Carbonate Mound Communities

These are typically steep-sided mounds that may be up to 350m high, formed from the debris of cold water coral reefs occurring at depths of between 500 and 1,100m. They support a diverse community comprising echiuran worms, sponges, bryozoans, soft corals, ascidians, tube worms, crinoids and bivalve molluscs.

They are known to occur on the Hatton Bank in the far west of Scottish waters but have a wider distribution in the north-east Atlantic such as the Porcupine Bank and the Rockall Trough.