A deep-water crinoid Leptometra celtica bed off the Portuguese south coast

Fonseca, Paulo; Abrantes, Fatima F; Aguilar, Ricardo; Campos, Aida; Cunha, Marina R.; Ferreira, Daniel; Fonseca, Teresa P.; García, Silvia; Henriques, Victor; Machado, Marcelo Lucas Pereira; Mechó, Ariadna; Relvas, Paulo; Rodrigues, Clara F.; Salgueiro, Emı́lia; Vieira, Rui P.; Weetman, Adrian; Castro, Margarida

doi:10.1007/s12526-013-0191-2

Cited by 21 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…There are some records of high abundances of Leptometra phalangium in upper slope areas (100 to 400 m depth) (Pérès andPicard 1956a, Mifsud et al 2009), as observed for the same genus in other areas (Fonseca et al 2013). The deepest record for this species is 1292 m (Marenzeller 1893).…”

Section: Class Crinoideamentioning

confidence: 90%

First records, rediscovery and compilation of deep-sea echinoderms in the middle and lower continental slope of the Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2014

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Summary:This study provides a compilation of all available information on deep-sea echinoderms from the middle and lower slopes of the Mediterranean Sea, with the aim of providing a unified source of information on the taxonomy of this group. Previous records of species are updated with new data obtained from 223 trawl hauls conducted in 11 cruises within the northwestern Mediterranean Sea between 800 m and 2845 m depth. Valid names, bathymetric ranges and geographic distributions are given for all species. The new data report, for the first time, the presence of the Atlantic echinoid Gracilechinus elegans (Düben and Koren, 1844) in the Mediterranean Sea. We also report the presence of the endemic holothurians Hedingia mediterranea (Bartolini Baldelli, 1914), dredged only once previously in 1914 in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and Penilpidia ludwigi (von Marenzeller, 1893), known previously only from three samples, two in the Aegean Sea and one in the Balearic Sea. Additionally, the deeper limits of the bathymetric distribution of four species have been expanded: the asteroid Ceramaster grenadensis (Perrier, 1881) to 2845 m; the echinoid Brissopsis lyrifera (Forbes, 1841) to 2250 m; and the holothurians Hedingia mediterranea and Holothuria (Panningothuria) forskali Delle Chiaje, 1823, to 1500 m and 850 m, respectively.Keywords: deep-sea echinoderms; Mediterranean Sea; Gracilechinus elegans; submarine canyons; taxonomy; bathymetric range. Primera cita, redescubrimiento y recopilación de los equinodermos de profundidad en el talud continental medio e inferior del MediterráneoResumen: Este estudio presenta una recopilación de toda la información disponible sobre los equinodermos de profundidad en el talud continental medio e inferior del mar Mediterráneo, con el fin de proporcionar una fuente de información unificada sobre la taxonomía de este grupo. Se han actualizado los registros anteriores mediante nuevos datos provenientes de 223 pescas de arrastre de 11 campañas oceanográficas realizadas en el noroeste Mediterráneo entre 800 y 2845 m de profundidad. Se ha actualizado el nombre de las especies, sus rangos batimétricos y sus distribuciones geográficas. Los nuevos datos presentan, por primera vez, la presencia del equinoideo Atlántico Gracilechinus elegans (Düben and Koren, 1844) en el mar Mediterráneo. También se cita la presencia en el noroeste Mediterráneo de dos especies de holoturias endémicas del Mediterráneo, Hedingia mediterranea (Bartolini Baldelli, 1914)

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Section: Class Crinoideamentioning

confidence: 90%

First records, rediscovery and compilation of deep-sea echinoderms in the middle and lower continental slope of the Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2014

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“…This work was fundamentally driven by the limited information available on the impacts caused by crustacean bottom-trawling fisheries which have been active along the Portuguese coast since the late 70's. To our knowledge, only few in-situ observations were performed aiming to describe the mega-epibenthic faunal biodiversity there, and those were mostly concentrated in submarine canyon areas (Pattenden, 2008;Duffy et al, 2012;Fonseca et al, 2014;Gomes-Pereira et al, 2015). Yet, even less attempt has been made to identify the possible impact of fisheries on the benthic habitat and faunal assemblages (Morais et al, 2007;Fonseca et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To our knowledge, only few in-situ observations were performed aiming to describe the mega-epibenthic faunal biodiversity there, and those were mostly concentrated in submarine canyon areas (Pattenden, 2008;Duffy et al, 2012;Fonseca et al, 2014;Gomes-Pereira et al, 2015). Yet, even less attempt has been made to identify the possible impact of fisheries on the benthic habitat and faunal assemblages (Morais et al, 2007;Fonseca et al, 2014). Hence, we discuss here mega-epibenthic faunal composition and diversity changes from areas subjected to varying trawling pressure using video and photographic methods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Barents Sea, Buhl-Mortensen et al (2015) investigated a wide range of soft and hard-substrate bottoms, and they have observed significant declines in abundance in sand and hard substrates locations, while muddy bottoms showed no distinct patterns regarding changes in abundance. In the south Portuguese margin, Morais et al (2007) and Fonseca et al (2014) identified a depletion of mega-epibenthic organisms abundances and diversity in fine sediment locations that suffered intense exploitation by crustacean trawlers with little evidence of recovery, while rocky and coarse sand substrates (avoided by trawlers to not damage the nets), promoted refuge for several sensitive species that included a large crinoid bed of Leptometra celtica (Fonseca et al, 2014). Moreover, most studies on soft sediment faunal assemblages impacted by trawling are flawed by the lack of reference pristine areas of the same habitat type.…”

Section: Mega-epibenthic Fauna Vulnerability To Physical Disturbancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…13-17 km −2 t −1 depending on the depth range considered (Eigaard et al, 2016;BuenoPardo et al, 2017). Moreover, few studies have attempted to understand the trawling impacts on the benthic assemblages and are limited by the absence of adequate control areas (Morais et al, 2007;Fonseca et al, 2014). The present study aims to address this issue by investigate the upper slope megaepibenthic assemblages in a southwest Iberian margin area subjected to long-term crustacean bottom trawling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deep-Sea Mega-Epibenthic Assemblages from the SW Portuguese Margin (NE Atlantic) Subjected to Bottom-Trawling Fisheries

et al. 2017

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Bottom-trawling fisheries are a common threat to the health of continental margins worldwide. Together with numerous environmental and biological processes, physical disturbance induced by trawlers can largely shape the benthic habitats and their associated assemblages. At the SW Portuguese Margin, crustacean bottom trawlers have exploited deep-sea habitats for a few decades, but its effects on the benthic biodiversity are practically unknown. During the spring-summer of 2013 and 2014, several Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) video transects were used to investigate mega-epibenthic abundance, composition, and diversity in soft-sediment areas subjected to varying trawling pressures off Sines and Setúbal (200-800 m). Differences in mega-epibenthic assemblages were linked with environmental changes (depth, grain size, primary productivity) and trawling disturbance. The effect of trawling was assessed between segments with similar habitat characteristics, i.e., muddy-sand bottoms between 300 and 500 m. Areas subjected to intensive trawling pressure showed a generally flattened seabed, with abundant recent trawl marks (up to 3 scars.100 m −1 ), indicating that the seabed physical integrity was compromised. Significant negative correlations were detected between various mega-epibenthic diversity indices [S, H ′ , and ET (20) ] and trawling pressure (h.cell −1 .y −1 ). Furthermore, the distinct mega-epibenthic assemblages and absence of several sessile erect morphospecies at both low and highly disturbed locations by trawling off Sines, namely all seapen morphospecies found in non-trawled areas, demonstrates the negative influence of trawling fisheries on the benthic component of the study area. Also, low dissimilarity between assemblages from the main fishing grounds and the adjacent low-disturbance locations, suggests that the potentially negative influence of trawling can extend beyond the targeted areas (e.g., by the plumes of re-suspended sediments). The observed deleterious effects of trawling on Ramalho et al.Trawling Disturbance on Mega-Epibenthos, SW Portugal mega-epibenthic fauna together with the intensification of trawling pressure in the study area, stress the need for adequate monitoring programs and regulatory measures to halt the long-term loss of biodiversity and allow the sustainability of fisheries at the SW Portuguese Margin.

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