| Main Ref. |
Jennings, S., J. Lancaster, A. Woolmer and J. Cotter, 1999 |
| Remarks |
Prefer a temperature range of 1° to 18°C and, although found in brackish waters with salinity levels of 14 and higher, is intolerant of salinities below 10. Found in both shallow and deep waters with preferred depth range between 10 and 280 m. Having a short siphon, it buries shallow beneath the surface, in gravelly, sandy to muddy sediments, and sapropels but preferentially in fine, silty sediment. Maintains a stationary position once it has settled onto the substrate. May burrow below the sediment surface possibly to escape predators or to conserve energy by going into this anaerobic phase which can last up to 7 days. A suspension and detritus feeder on fresh organic matter; filters phytoplankton and able to pick up food particles from the seabed with the tentacles on the end of its siphon, it being a suspension feeder. Dioecious with reproduction continuous throughout the year. Late sexual maturity, at around 5 to 11 years, make its population sensitive to disturbance (Ref. 88171). |
