comparatively low epifaunal populations. The distribution of taxonomic richness across the zone and East Anglia THREE and FOUR was highly variable with no clear geographical patterns.
7.
Multivariate analysis of the epifaunal data was carried out using the PRIMER V6 software package, this analysis identified four faunal groups across the East Anglia Zone, the group which dominates across East Anglia THREE and FOUR is characterised by the brittlestars Ophiura ophiura and O. albida, the brown shrimp Crangon allmanni, gobies Gobiidae and sole Solea solea.
3.2 Cable Route
3.2.1 Subtidal 8.
The benthic survey of the East Anglia ONE cable corridor which is shared with East Anglia THREE and East Anglia FOUR (Figure 1 below) identified 270 taxa from 39 grab samples. The average number of individuals and taxa were 93 and 20 respectively. The relative abundances were made up of annelids (47%), crustaceans (11%) and echinoderms (5%). The top ten most abundant taxa contributed to 55% of the overall abundance in the samples taken. The four most abundant taxa included S. spinulosa, mussels (mostly Mytilus edulis), A. alba and the acorn barnacle Balanus crenatus. The presence of the acorn barnacle and mussels which require hard substrate in large numbers indicates that the substrate of the cable corridor is different from that of East Anglia THREE and East Anglia FOUR. Other abundant species were the polychaetes Sphaerosyllis bulbosa and S. bombyx.
9.
The majority of grab samples had fewer than 80 individuals, with 5 stations having over 250 individuals and one having over 600. The stations with the highest abundances were located at the western end of the EA ONE cable corridor.
10.
Multivariate analysis of the East Anglia ONE cable corridor benthic infaunal data identified seven faunal groups. The analysis showed a similarity of 15% between all faunal groups. This illustrates that there is overlap in many of the characterising fauna in many of the faunal groups. The main characterising taxa were:
Group A S. bombyx, N. cirrosa and the bristleworm Ophelia borealis; Group B S. spinulosa and mussels;
Group C the polychaete worm Pseudonotomastus southerni, mussels and the spionid worm Aonides paucibranchiata;
Group D S. bombyx, and the bivalves Nucula nucleus and N. nitidosa; Evidence Plan Benthic Ecology Method Statement
East Anglia THREE & East Anglia FOUR Offshore Windfarms
