Effects of deep-water coral banks on the abundance and size structure of the megafauna in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract. Submarine canyons are known as one of the seafloor morphological features where living cold-water coral (CWC) communities develop in the Mediterranean Sea. We investigated the CWC community of the two westernmost submarine canyons of the Gulf of Lions canyon system: the Cap de Creus Canyon (CCC) and Lacaze-Duthiers Canyon (LDC). Coral associations have been studied through video material recorded by means of a manned submersible and a remotely operated vehicle. Video transects have been conducted and analyzed in order to obtain information on (1) coral bathymetric distribution and density patterns, (2) size structure of coral populations, and (3) coral colony position with respect to the substrate. Madrepora oculata was the most abundant CWC in both canyons, while Lophelia pertusa and Dendrophyllia cornigera mostly occurred as isolated colonies or in small patches. An important exception was detected in a vertical cliff in LDC where a large L. pertusa framework was documented. This is the first record of such an extended L. pertusa framework in the Mediterranean Sea. In both canyons coral populations were dominated by medium and large colonies, but the frequent presence of small-sized colonies also indicate active recruitment. The predominant coral orientation (90° and 135°) is probably driven by the current regime as well as by the sediment load transported by the current flows. In general, no clear differences were observed in the abundance and in the size structure of the CWC populations between CCC and LDC, despite large differences in particulate matter between canyons.

Download Full-text

Bathymetrical distribution and size structure of cold-water coral populations in the Cap de Creus and Lacaze-Duthiers canyons (northwestern Mediterranean)

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-9-19053-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. 19053-19084 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A. Gori ◽

C. Orejas ◽

T. Madurell ◽

L. Bramanti ◽

M. Martins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Cold Water ◽

Size Structure ◽

First Record ◽

Lophelia Pertusa ◽

Submarine Canyons ◽

Remotely Operated Vehicle ◽

Coral Colony ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Water Coral

Abstract. Submarine canyons are known as one of the seafloor morphological features where living cold-water coral (CWC) communities develop in the Mediterranean Sea. We investigated the CWC community of the two westernmost submarine canyons of the Gulf of Lions canyon system: the Cap de Creus Canyon (CCC) and Lacaze Duthiers Canyon (LDC). Coral associations have been studied through video material recorded by means of a manned submersible and a remotely operated vehicle. Video transects have been conducted and analyzed in order to obtain information on (1) coral bathymetric distribution and density patterns, (2) size structure of coral populations, and (3) coral colony orientation with respect to the substrate. Madrepora oculata was the most abundant CWC in both canyons, while Lophelia pertusa and Dendrophyllia cornigera mostly occurred as isolated colonies or in small patches. An important exception was detected in a vertical cliff in LDC where a large Lophelia pertusa framework was documented. This is the first record of such an extended L. pertusa framework in the Mediterranean Sea. In both canyons coral populations were dominated by medium and large colonies, but the frequent presence of small-sized colonies also indicate active recruitment. The predominant coral orientation with respect to the substrate (90° and 135°) is probably driven by the current regime as well as by the sediment load transported by the current flows. In general no clear differences were observed between the CWC populations from CCC and LDC, despite large differences in particulate matter between canyons.

Download Full-text

A unique and threatened deep water coral-bivalve biotope new to the Mediterranean Sea offshore the Naples megalopolis

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-39655-8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Marco Taviani ◽

Lorenzo Angeletti ◽

Frine Cardone ◽

Paolo Montagna ◽

Roberto Danovaro

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Deep Water ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Water Coral

Download Full-text

Verruca stroemia and Verruca spengleri (Crustacea: Cirripedia): distribution in the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315403006842h ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 83 (1) ◽

pp. 89-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Paulo S. Young ◽

Helmut Zibrowius ◽

Ghazi Bitar

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Black Sea ◽

Geographic Distribution ◽

Deep Water ◽

Southern Spain ◽

The Black Sea ◽

The North ◽

North Eastern ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Gorringe Bank

The geographic distribution of Verruca stroemia and V. spengleri are reviewed. Verruca stroemia ranges from the White, Barents, Norwegian, and North Seas south to Portugal to the Algarve and to Gorringe Bank. All of the records of this species from the Mediterranean Sea are considered to be V. spengleri. Verruca spengleri occurs in the Azores and Madeira archipelagos, in southern Spain (Cádiz), throughout the Mediterranean Sea from Gibraltar to Lebanon, and in the Black Sea. But a distinct deep-water Verruca species seems to occur in the deep Mediterranean.

Download Full-text

Sea level drop in the Mediterranean Sea: An indicator of deep water salinity and temperature changes?

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1029/1999gl007004 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 27 (12) ◽

pp. 1731-1734 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

Michael N. Tsimplis ◽

Trevor F. Baker

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Sea Level ◽

Deep Water ◽

Water Salinity ◽

Temperature Changes ◽

The Mediterranean

Download Full-text

THE CONVERTED HYDROACOUSTIC ARRAY "MG-10M" – A BASIC MODULE FOR A DEEP WATER ν-TELESCOPE

International Journal of Modern Physics A ◽

10.1142/s0217751x06033611 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 21 (supp01) ◽

pp. 197-201

Author(s):

Y. KARLIK ◽

V. SVET

Keyword(s):

High Temperature ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Deep Water ◽

Underwater Sound ◽

Good Tool ◽

Sound Channel ◽

Technical Parameters ◽

Basic Module ◽

Underwater Sound Channel ◽

The Mediterranean

The possibility of converted hydroacoustic arrays to create a module of deep water ν-Telescope is discussed. The array MC-10M is good tool to start the first real ocean experiments to investigate the problem of detecting neutrinos with energy 1018 eV. Technical parameters and systems which are necessary to create the module are presented. The Mediterranean Sea is an appropriate area for the first experiments due to existing of a deep underwater sound channel and stable high temperature. Some estimation of possible detecting volumes is presented. This project is continuation of works of authors in this direction, started in 1997.

Download Full-text

FIRST ACTIVITIES IN ACOUSTIC DETECTION OF PARTICLES IN UPV

International Journal of Modern Physics A ◽

10.1142/s0217751x06033519 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 21 (supp01) ◽

pp. 137-141 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M. ARDID ◽

J. RAMIS ◽

V. ESPINOSA ◽

J. A. MARTÍNEZ-MORA ◽

F. CAMARENA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Deep Water ◽

Research Group ◽

High Energy ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Acoustic Detection ◽

High Energy Neutrino ◽

Energy Neutrino ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Surface Noise

The first activities related to acoustic detection of particles by DISAO research group in the Univesitat Politècnica de València are described. We are applying some techniques from physic, engineering and oceanographic acoustics to face the high energy neutrino underwater acoustic detection challenge. The work is focused mainly in two topics: design, characterization and calibration of hydrophones, and simulation of the propagation of the signal in the sea. We present also some examples for these two topics: piezoelectric modelling and transducer simulation, calibration of hydrophones using MLS signals, and evaluation of the contribution of the sea surface noise to the deep water noise in the Mediterranean Sea by means of simulations of propagation of sound.

Download Full-text

A revised definition of the genus Epileucon Jones (Crustacea, Cumacea) with descriptions of species from the deep Atlantic

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1981.0003 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 291 (1052) ◽

pp. 353-409 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

New Zealand ◽

Continental Shelf ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Geographical Distribution ◽

Deep Water ◽

Mediterranean Species ◽

Males And Females ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Definition Of

The genus Epileucon Jones, 1956 is redefined on the basis of carapace, pereon and appendage characters. The following species are transferred to Epileucon from the genus Leucon Kröyer, 1846: E. spiniventris (Hansen, 1920), E. longirostris (G. O. Sars, 1871), E. tenuirostris (G. O. Sars, 1887), E. latispina (Jones, 1963) and E. bengalensis (Lomakina, 1967). A lectotype is selected for E. spiniventris . Known Atlantic and Mediterranean species are redescribed, and five new species, E. ensis, E. pusillus, E. craterus, E. socius and E. acclivis , are described. Keys to males and females of the Atlantic and Mediterranean species are provided. The geographical distribution of the group is discussed. The genus is known in deep water (> 200 m) in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and in the Mediterranean Sea, and also on the continental shelf (at around 100 m depth) off New Zealand.

Download Full-text