A broad-scale long-term dataset of Sabellaria alveolata distribution and abundance curated through the REEHAB (REEf HABitat) Project

Numerous reef-forming species have declined dramatically in the last century, many of which have been insufficiently documented due to anecdotal or hard-to-access information. One of them, the honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata (L.) is a tube-building polychaete that can form large reefs, providing important ecosystem services such as coastal protection and habitat provision. It ranges from Scotland to Morocco, yet little is known about its distribution outside of the United Kingdom, where it is protected and where there is a strong heritage of natural history and sustained observations. As a result, online marine biodiversity information systems currently contain haphazardly distributed records of S. alveolata.

One of the objectives of the REEHAB project (http://www.honeycombworms.org) was to combine historical records with contemporary data to document changes in the distribution and abundance of S. alveolata. Here we publish the result of the curation of 446 sources, gathered from literature, targeted surveys, local conservation reports, museum specimens, personal communications by authors and by their research teams, national biodiversity information systems (i.e. the UK National Biodiversity Network (NBN), https://nbn.org.uk/ ) and validated citizen science observations (i.e. https://www.inaturalist.org/ ). 80%[ar1] of these records were not previously referenced in any online information system. Additionally, historic field notebooks from Edouard Fischer-Piette and Gustave Gilson were scanned for S. alveolata information and manually entered.

The original taxonomic identification of the 23296 S. alveolata records has been kept. Some identification errors may however be present, particularly in the English Channel and the North Sea where incorrectly identified observations of intertidal Sabellaria spinulosa were recorded. A further 229 observations are recorded as ‘Sabellaria spp.’ as the available information does not allow a species-level identification. Many sources reported abundances based on the semi-quantitative SACFOR scale while others simply noted its presence, and others still verified both its absence and presence. The result is a curated and comprehensive dataset spanning over two centuries on the past and present global distribution and abundance of S. alveolata.

Sabellaria alveolata records projected onto a 50km grid. When SACFOR scale abundance scores were given to occurrence records, the highest abundance value per grid cell was retained.

Date (Publication): 2025-04

Date (Revision): 2025-04-28

Other citation details: Curd Amelia, Cordier Celine, Firth Louise B., Bush Laura, Gruet Yves, Le Mao Patrick, Blaze Julie A., Board Callum, Bordeyne François, Burrows Michael T., Cunningham Paul N., Davies Andrew J., Desroy Nicolas, Edwards Hugh, Harris Daniel R., Hawkins Stephen J., Kerckhof Francis, Lima Fernando P., McGrath David, Meneghesso Claudia, Mieszkowska Nova, Nunn Julia D., Nunes Flavia, O’ Connor Nessa E., O’ Riordan Ruth M., Power Anne Marie, Seabra Rui, Simkanin Christina, Dubois Stanislas (2025). A broad-scale long-term dataset of Sabellaria alveolata distribution and abundance curated through the REEHAB (REEf HABitat) Project. SEANOE. https://doi.org/10.17882/72164

Credit: The authors wish to thank Bernard and Hervé Fischer for their help and willingness to make Edouard Fischer-Piette's unpublished work publicly available. We are grateful to Alice Lemaire, Clément Oury and Anaïs Rameaux from the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle archive department for digitising Edouard Fischer-Piette's work. We thank Yves Samyn, curator of the Recent Invertebrates (non insects) Collection of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, who made the data of the Gilson collection available to us. This work was supported by the Total Foundation [Grant No. 1512 215 588/F, 2015] and follows from the REEf HABitat (REEHAB) project (www.honeycombworms.org). The MarClim® project gratefully acknowledges support from Natural England and Natural Resources Wales. This dataset has benefited from the participation of dozens of volunteers in citizen science projects (i.e. The Shore Thing, iNaturalist, the REEHAB project) and environmental NGOs (i.e. Bretagne Vivante, Estran22). Their contribution is gratefully acknowledged.

Author

IFREMER, Centre de Bretagne, ZI de la pointe du Diable, CS 10070, 29280 Plouzané, France - Curd Amelia

Author

IFREMER, Centre de Bretagne, ZI de la pointe du Diable, CS 10070, 29280 Plouzané, France - Cordier Celine

Author

School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, PL4 8AA, Plymouth, UK - Firth Louise B.

Author

FUGRO GB Marine Limited, Gait 8, Research Park South, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK - Bush Laura

Author

University of Nantes, 58 rue Stendhal, 44300 Nantes, France - Gruet Yves

Author

IFREMER, Laboratoire Environnement Ressources Bretagne Nord, 38 rue du Port Blanc, 35800 Dinard, France - Le Mao Patrick

Author

Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, USA - Blaze Julie A.

Author

School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, PL4 8AA, Plymouth, UK - Board Callum

Author

Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR AD2M Adaptation et Diversité en Milieu Marin, Station Biologique de Roscoff, 29680 Roscoff, France - Bordeyne François

Author

Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunbeg, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK - Burrows Michael T.

Author

Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK Former Department of Zoology, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK - Cunningham Paul N.

Author

University of Rhode Island, Department of Biological Sciences, Kingston, RI 02881, USA - Davies Andrew J.

Author

IFREMER, Laboratoire Environnement Ressources Bretagne Nord, 38 rue du Port Blanc, 35800 Dinard, France - Desroy Nicolas

Author

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Belfast, BT72JA, UK - Edwards Hugh

Author

Estuary & Ocean Science Center, San Francisco State University, 3150 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, CA 94920, USA - Harris Daniel R.

Author

Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK The Marine Biological Association of the UK, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK - Hawkins Stephen J.

Author

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecology, Marine Ecology and Management, 3de en 23ste Linieregimentsplein, 8400 Oostende, Belgium - Kerckhof Francis

Author

CIBIO-InBIO, University of Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas nº 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal - Lima Fernando P.

Author

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland - McGrath David

Author

CIBIO-InBIO, University of Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas nº 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, R. Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal - Meneghesso Claudia

Author

The Marine Biological Association of the UK, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Nicholson Building, Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L69 3GP, UK - Mieszkowska Nova

Author

National Museums Northern Ireland, 153 Bangor Rd, Holywood BT18 0EU, Northern Ireland 2 Windmill Lane, Portaferry, Co. Down BT22 1RW, Northern Ireland - Nunn Julia D.

Author

IFREMER, Centre de Bretagne, ZI de la pointe du Diable, CS 10070, 29280 Plouzané, France - Nunes Flavia

Author

School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland - O’ Connor Nessa E.

Author

School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork. - O’ Riordan Ruth M.

Author

Zoology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland - Power Anne Marie

Author

CIBIO-InBIO, University of Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas nº 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal - Seabra Rui

Author

Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada - Simkanin Christina

Author

IFREMER, Centre de Bretagne, ZI de la pointe du Diable, CS 10070, 29280 Plouzané, France - Dubois Stanislas

Publisher

SEANOE

Theme

Biological oceanography

ODATIS aggregation parameters and Essential Variable names

SeaDataNet Parameter Disciplines

Biological oceanography

Centre de données ODATIS

CDS-STAMAR

Type de jeux de donnée ODATIS

Analysis data

Use limitation: CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons - Attribution, No commercial usage)

Use constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: Data are published without any warranty, express or implied. The user assumes all risk arising from his/her use of data. Data are intended to be research-quality and include estimates of data quality and accuracy, but it is possible that these estimates or the data themselves contain errors. It is the sole responsibility of the user to assess if the data are appropriate for his/her use, and to interpret the data, data quality, and data accuracy accordingly. The authors welcome users to ask questions and report problems.