Dr Leigh Jones Zostera marina plants. Image height ca. Zostera marina has a wide but patchy distribution in southwest of England, the Solent and Isle of Wight on the south coast, Wales, western Ireland, western and eastern Scotland including Orkney and the Shetland Islands.
Leaves shoot from a creeping rhizome that binds the sediment.
Leaves and rhizomes contain air spaces, lacunae, that aid bouyancy. Numerous flowers occur on a reproductive shoot similar to those of terrestrial grasses. Forms dense swards in the subtidal, supports a diverse fauna and flora and may act as a nursery for fish and shellfish. Tyler-Walters, H., 1999. Zostera marina , Common eelgrass.