Plankton samples were collected from during a sandbank survey at nine sites in four Candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSAC) using a plankton net positioned above a beam trawl. The zooplankton was analysed my Emu Ltd and found to contain common Irish Sea species.
Classification analysis revealed that four of the sites (Red Wharf Bay, Four Fathom, Helwick and Cardigan) each supported distinct communities based on their faunal composition, and the distinguishing features of each were identified. Samples from the remaining sites did not fall into site-specific groups indicating that the fauna in these areas was less distinct.
Data used to sort and identify the planktonic animals from samples taken as part of the sandbank survey in four SACs along the Welsh coastline.
