title: Deep coral oases in the South Tyrrhenian Sea.
abstract: A Mediterranean "roche du large" ecosystem, represented by four rocky shoals, located a few miles apart on a muddy bottom at 70-130 m depth in the gulf of St. Eufemia (Calabria, South Tyrrhenian Sea), was studied by means of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) photo imaging. The shoals host highly diversified coral communities, mainly composed of arborescent colonies of gorgonians (Callogorgia verticillata, Paramuricea clavata, Paramuricea macrospina, Bebryce mollis, Villogorgia bebrycoides, Corallium rubrum, and Leptogorgia sarmentosa), and antipatharians (Antipathella subpinnata, Antipathes dichotoma and Parantipathes larix). The coral colonies reach high densities (up to ca. 17 colonies m(-2)) and large sizes, such as the over 1.5 m wide antipatharian colonies. We hypothesized that the abundance and composition of the coral assemblages differed significantly among the rocky shoals and with respect to the surrounding soft bottoms. Various environmental variables were tested as possible explanatory factors of the observed differences. Moreover, due to their off-coast localization, we report here that these unique ecosystems are potentially subjected to a strong pressure from the local fishing activities, which were tentatively characterized. The recorded coral β-diversity among the shoals supports the hypothesis that these habitats behave like small oases of hard substrata interspersed in a muddy bottom. Because of their intrinsic beauty and rarity and their biological and ecological value, we stress the need of specific actions aimed at the urgent protection of these oases of biodiversity.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento per lo Studio del Territorio e delle sue Risorse, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy. Marzia.Bo@unige.it
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bo
authors.forename: Simonepietro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Canese
authors.forename: Costanza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spaggiari
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pusceddu
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bertolino
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Angiolillo
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giusti
authors.forename: Maria Filomena
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Loreto
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salvati
authors.forename: Silvestro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bavestrello
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa; D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008522:Mediterranean Sea