Diversity and abundance of the benthic fauna in the Channel Sea have favoured the development of fisheries, particularly those of shellfish (scallop, warty venus, common cockle, dog cockle, banded carpet shell, surf clam...) and also attracted the interest of scientists. Some large scientific programs were carried out in the seventies to study benthos distribution in this area. Among the main listed bivalves, the dog cockle (Glycymeris glycymeris) and the banded carpet shell (Paphia rhomboïdes) are particularly widespread in the Channel Sea and in the "Golfe Normand-Breton", where they are ones of the most abundant species in terms of biomass. In view of their halieutic interest and the existence of an important database describing their distribution,... |