Characteristics of the Mesophotic Megabenthic Assemblages of the Vercelli Seamount (North Tyrrhenian Sea)
Open Access
- 3 February 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 6 (2), e16357
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016357
Abstract
The biodiversity of the megabenthic assemblages of the mesophotic zone of a Tyrrhenian seamount (Vercelli Seamount) is described using Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) video imaging from 100 m depth to the top of the mount around 61 m depth. This pinnacle hosts a rich coralligenous community characterized by three different assemblages: (i) the top shows a dense covering of the kelp Laminaria rodriguezii; (ii) the southern side biocoenosis is mainly dominated by the octocorals Paramuricea clavata and Eunicella cavolinii; while (iii) the northern side of the seamount assemblage is colonized by active filter-feeding organisms such as sponges (sometimes covering 100% of the surface) with numerous colonies of the ascidian Diazona violacea, and the polychaete Sabella pavonina. This study highlights, also for a Mediterranean seamount, the potential role of an isolated rocky peak penetrating the euphotic zone, to work as an aggregating structure, hosting abundant benthic communities dominated by suspension feeders, whose distribution may vary in accordance to the geomorphology of the area and the different local hydrodynamic conditions.This publication has 48 references indexed in Scilit:
- Persistence of an eddy signature in the central Tyrrhenian basinDeep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2009
- Benthic invertebrate communities on three seamounts off southern and central California, USAMarine Ecology Progress Series, 2009
- Endemicity, Biogeography, Composition, and Community Structure On a Northeast Pacific SeamountPLOS ONE, 2009
- Seamounts: identity crisis or split personality?Journal of Biogeography, 2007
- Demersal resource assemblages in the trawl fishing grounds off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean)Scientia Marina, 2005
- Seasonality in coastal benthic ecosystemsTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 2000
- Effects of a mucilage event on the Mediterranean gorgonianParamuricea clavata. I ‐ Short term impacts at the population and colony levelsItalian Journal of Zoology, 1996
- Seasonal variability of gyre‐scale circulation in the northern Tyrrhenian SeaJournal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 1994
- Macrofaunal involvement in the sublittoral decay of kelp debris: the detritivore community and species interactionsEstuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 1984
- Age and Nature of Basalts from the Tyrrhenian Abyssal PlainPublished by International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) ,1978