If you don't find mud and animals with more mouths than eyes interesting then this isn't the page for you.

I am primarily interested in marine benthic communities; that is animals which live on or in the sea bed.  These can either be on hard substrata like rocks and reefs or in muds and sands, the area I am most interested in.

Approximately 65% of the earths surface is covered in marine mud, yet it is an area which very few people know anything about.  The average person could tell you several animals which live in tropical rainforests and have a go at naming some animals which you might find in rockpools, but what about mud?  Millions of species of animals from tiny little worms only a few thousandths of a millimetre long to giant crabs live on or in the mud.  Some of the wierdest animals on earth lurk in the deep sea benthos, single celled organisms normally considered to be too small to sea with the naked eye can grow to the size of small footballs, giant sea spiders the size of dinner plates (see below) wander the mud looking for food.   

Isn't it cool? The sea anemone Cerianthus lloydii, found commonly in shallow waters around British coasts,  it lives in a mucus burrow into which it can retract at high speed (very difficult to catch)