UK BAP priority marine species

A list of UK BAP priority marine species, created between 1995 and 1999, and subsequently updated in response to the Species and Habitats Review Report (PDF, 1.3Mb), published in 2007, is provided in the table below. The table also provides details of the species' occurences in the waters around the four UK countries, and describes whether the species was an 'original' species (on the original list created between 1995 and 1999), or was added following the 2007 review. All original species were provided with Species Action Plans (SAPs), species statements, or are included within grouped plans or statements, whereas there are no published plans for the species added in 2007.

UK BAP priority species were those that were identified as being the most threatened and requiring conservation action under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). However, as a result of devolution, and new country-level and international drivers and requirements, much of the work previously carried out by the UK BAP is now focussed at a country-level rather than a UK-level, and the UK BAP has recently (July 2012) been succeeded by the 'UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework'. The UK list of priority species, however, remains an important reference source and has been used to help draw up statutory lists of priorities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Current scientific names and commonly used synonyms derive from the Nameserver facility of the National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary, which is managed by the Natural History Museum. More detailed information about the distribution and taxonomy of these species can be found using the NBN Gateway, and details of the original Species Action Plans (SAPs), generated between 1995 and 1999, can be found on the original (archived) UK BAP website, or on the BARS 1 website, which was archived in April 2012 following the launch of BARS 2.

JNCC have collated already-published information from a variety of sources for all of the UK BAP priority species, to bring these data together into a single report, or 'species account'. All of this information is already available on either the JNCC website, the NBN Gateway, or the BARS 1 website. Each individual species account can be accessed by selecting the name in the table below, or through the priority species accounts spreadsheet. For more detail about the information within the species accounts, visit the Priority species accounts page>>.

UK BAP priority marine species
Scientific name and link to species account	NBN common name	Taxon	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Original UK BAP species?
Ammodytes marinus	Lesser Sandeel	bony fish	Y	Y	Y	Y
Amphianthus dohrnii	Sea-fan Anemone	cnidarian	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – SAP
Anotrichium barbatum	Bearded Red Seaweed	alga	Y	N	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Aphanopus carbo	Black Scabbardfish	bony fish		Y	N		Yes – grouped plan
Arachnanthus sarsi	Scarce Tube-dwelling Anemone	cnidarian	N	Y	N	Y
Arrhis phyllonyx		crustacean	N	Y	N	Y
Ascophyllum nodosum ecad mackaii	Wig Wrack or Sea-loch Egg Wrack	alga		Y	N		Yes – SAP
Atrina fragilis	Fan Mussel	mollusc	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Balaenoptera acutorostrata	Minke Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Balaenoptera borealis	Sei Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Balaenoptera musculus	Blue Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Balaenoptera physalus	Fin Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Caretta caretta	Loggerhead Turtle	turtle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Centrophorus granulosus	Gulper Shark	shark/skate/ray		Y	N
Centrophorus squamosus	Leafscraper Shark	shark/skate/ray		Y	N
Centroscymnus coelolepsis	Portuguese Dogfish	shark/skate/ray		Y	N
Cetorhinus maximus	Basking Shark	shark/skate/ray	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Clupea harengus	Herring	bony fish	Y	Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Coryphaenoides rupestris	Roundnose Grenadier	bony fish		Y	N		Yes – grouped plan
Cruoria cruoriaeformis		alga	Y	Y	Y	Y
Dalatias licha	Kitefin Shark	shark/skate/ray		Y	N
Delphinus delphis	Common Dolphin	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Dermochelys coriacea	Leatherback Turtle	turtle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Dermocorynus montagnei		alga	Y	Y	Y	N
Dipturus batis	Common Skate	shark/skate/ray		Y	Y
Edwardsia timida	Timid Burrowing Anemone	cnidarian	Y	N	Y	N
Eubalaena glacialis	Northern Right Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Eunicella verrucosa	Pink Sea-fan	cnidarian	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Fucus distichus	a brown algae	alga	N	Y	N	N
Funiculina quadrangularis	Tall Sea Pen	cnidarian	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – statement
Gadus morhua	Cod	bony fish	Y	Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Galeorhinus galeus	Tope Shark	shark/skate/ray	Y	Y	Y	Y
Gitanopsis bispinosa		crustacean	N	Y	N	X
Globicephala melas	Long-finned Pilot Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Grampus griseus	Risso's Dolphin	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Haliclystus auricula		cnidarian	Y	Y	Y	Y
Hippocampus guttulatus	Long-snouted Seahorse	bony fish		Y	Y
Hippocampus hippocampus	Short-snouted Seahorse	bony fish	Y	N	N	N
Hippoglossus hippoglossus	Atlantic Halibut	bony fish		Y	N
Hoplostethus atlanticus	Orange Roughy	bony fish		Y	N		Yes – grouped plan
Hyperoodon ampullatus	Northern Bottlenose Whale	sea mammal	N	Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Isurus oxyrinchus	Shortfin Mako	shark/skate/ray		N	N
Lagenorhynchus acutus	Atlantic White-sided Dolphin	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – grouped plan
Lagenorhynchus albirostris	White-beaked Dolphin	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Lamna nasus	Porbeagle Shark	shark/skate/ray	Y	Y	Y	U
Leptopsammia pruvoti	Sunset Cup Coral	cnidarian	Y	N	N	N	Yes – SAP
Leucoraja circularis	Sandy Ray	shark/skate/ray		Y	N
Lithothamnion corallioides	Coral Maërl	alga	Y	Y	Y	Y
Lophius piscatorius	Sea Monkfish	bony fish	Y	Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Lucernariopsis campanulata		cnidarian		Y	Y
Lucernariopsis cruxmelitensis		cnidarian	Y	N	N	N
Megaptera novaeangliae	Humpback Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Merlangius merlangus	Whiting	bony fish	Y	Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Merluccius merluccius	European Hake	bony fish	Y	Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Mesoplodon bidens	Sowerby's Beaked Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Mesoplodon mirus	True's Beaked Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Micromesistius poutassou	Blue Whiting	bony fish	Y	Y	N
Mitella pollicipes	Gooseneck Barnacle	crustacean	Y	N	N	N
Molva dypterygia	Blue Ling	bony fish		Y	N		Yes – grouped plan
Molva molva	Ling	bony fish	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – grouped plan
Orcinus orca	Killer Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Ostrea edulis	Native Oyster	mollusc	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Pachycerianthus multiplicatus	Fireworks Anemone	cnidarian		Y	N
Pachycordyle navis	Brackish Hydroid	cnidarian	Y	N	N	N	Yes – statement
Padina pavonica	Peacock’s tail	alga	Y	N	Y	N
Palinurus elephas	Crayfish, Crawfish or Spiny Lobster	crustacean	Y	Y	Y	Y
Phoca vitulina	Common Seal	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y
Phocoena phocoena	Harbour Porpoise	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Phymatolithon calcareum	Common Maërl	alga		Y	Y
Physeter catodon	Sperm Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan
Pleuronectes platessa	Plaice	bony fish	Y	Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Prionace glauca	Blue Shark	shark/skate/ray	Y	Y	Y	Y
Raja undulata	Undulate Ray	shark/skate/ray		N	Y
Reinhardtius hippoglossoides	Greenland Halibut	bony fish		Y	N		Yes – grouped plan
Rostroraja alba	White or Bottlenosed Skate	shark/skate/ray		N	Y
Scomber scombrus	Mackerel	bony fish		Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Solea solea	Sole	bony fish		Y	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Squalus acanthias	Spiny Dogfish	shark/skate/ray	Y	Y	Y	Y
Squatina squatina	Angel Shark	shark/skate/ray	N	Y	Y	N
Stenella coeruleoalba	Striped Dolphin	sea mammal	N	Y	Y	N	Yes – grouped plan
Styela gelatinosa	Loch Goil Sea Squirt	tunicate	N	Y	N	N	Yes – statement
Swiftia pallida	Northern Sea Fan	cnidarian	N	Y	N	N
Tenellia adspersa	Lagoon Sea Slug	mollusc		N	Y		Yes – statement
Thunnus thynnus	Blue-fin Tuna	bony fish		Y	N
Trachurus trachurus	Horse Mackerel	bony fish	Y	N	Y		Yes – grouped plan
Tursiops truncatus	Bottle-nosed Dolphin	sea mammal	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – grouped plan
Ziphius cavirostris	Cuvier's Beaked Whale	sea mammal	Y	Y	N	N	Yes – grouped plan