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

The Gulf of Naples is an example of the most beautiful and biodiverse marine regions of the Mediterranean Sea and of the most impacted areas in terms of industrial activities, large contaminated areas, resource exploitation, infrastructures at sea and maritime transportation. We conducted Remotely O...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2019-03, Vol.9 (1), p.3411-3411, Article 3411
Main Authors: Taviani, Marco, Angeletti, Lorenzo, Cardone, Frine, Montagna, Paolo, Danovaro, Roberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/158/670
704/829/826
Anthropogenic factors
Aquatic life
Biodiversity
Bivalvia
Canyons
Continental interfaces, environment
Corals
Deep sea
Deep water
Humanities and Social Sciences
Industrial areas
Industrial pollution
Marine transportation
Metropolitan areas
Mollusks
multidisciplinary
Ocean, Atmosphere
Resource exploitation
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sciences of the Universe
Shellfish
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Summary:The Gulf of Naples is an example of the most beautiful and biodiverse marine regions of the Mediterranean Sea and of the most impacted areas in terms of industrial activities, large contaminated areas, resource exploitation, infrastructures at sea and maritime transportation. We conducted Remotely Operated Vehicle surveys in the Dohrn Canyon in the Tyrrhenian Sea at approximately 12 NM off Naples metropolitan area, and revealed a hotspot of deep-sea benthic biodiversity of sessile fauna at ca. 400 m depth. The hard bottoms are characterized by a high abundance of charismatic species, such as the habitat forming cold-water corals (CWC) Madrepora oculata, Lophelia pertusa, Desmophyllum dianthus in association with the large size bivalves Acesta excavata and Neopycnodonte zibrowii . This CWC-bivalve co-occurrence represents a novel biotope for the Mediterranean Sea, which coexists with the evidence of severe anthropogenic threats, such as illegal dumping and fishery malpractices that were visually documented during the survey. We recommend the adoption of specific protection measures to preserve these unique deep-sea assemblages showing the uncommon co-existence of such a number of deep-sea species in a single habitat.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-39655-8