Leiopathes glaberrima millennial forest from SW Sardinia as nursery ground for the small spotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula

Abstract

1. Association between habitat structuring organisms and other species has great relevance for ecosystem-based conservation measures.2. Those occurring in temperate areas, particularly in the upper portion of the continental margin, are mostly unknown or not properly understood because of the difficulty to discriminate co-occurrence and real functional linkages among species.3. Deep water coral assemblages over the Carloforte Shoal (south-west Sardinia; 180-210 m depth) were investigated using ROV surveys.4. During the surveys, more than 740 egg-capsules of the spotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula, identified after hatching experiments in captivity, were found attached exclusively to colonies of the long-living black coral Leiopathes glaberrima. 5.Although based on a spot finding, the results show that coral forests are not only hotspots of biodiversity, but can also serve as nursery grounds for S. canicula. The protection of these millennial coral forests is therefore to be considered a priority.

Morphological descriptions of the eggcases of skates (Rajidae) from the central-western Mediterranean, with notes on their distribution

“…Throughout the analyzed period (12 years), R. asterias and R. miraletus active skates were found on the same sites every year, located in the central western coast of Sardinia, confirming the theory that many rajid species demonstrate site fidelity, returning to the same depositional area or nursery ground on an annual basis as reported for Bathyraja aleutica, B. interrupta and B. parmifera in eastern Bearing Sea [48]. Moreover, this finding could also suggest the existence of possible nursery areas, as recently observed for oviparous species as R. clavata and Galeus melastomus [49] and Scyliorhinus canicula [50] around Sardinian waters.…”

“…Indeed, this identification key could act as useful tool for non-invasive identification of eggcases through image analysis (i.e., ROV imaging), which have proven to be an efficient tool for identifying nursery ground and delineate ecological traits of species. In addition, since knowledge of the location of nursery grounds for elasmobranchs is practically nonexistent [50] and given the most recent policy approaches to the protection of marine ecosystems (e.g. the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, MSFD; 2008/56/EC currently in force in European seas), the identification of essential fishing habitats such as nursery grounds of sensitive species like skates represent an indispensable component to protect and manage.…”

New sites expanding the “Sardinian cold‐water coral province” extension: A new potential cold‐water coral network?

“…The three‐dimensional complexity provided both by seafloor morphology and coral communities renders these habitats suitable or not for other species to be associated (Auster, ). Sharks, among others, have been documented to take advantage of deep‐water coral habitats, using them for laying their egg‐cases, being safe and appropriate places for embryos to develop (Cau, Follesa, et al, ).…”

Mesophotic and Deep-Sea Vulnerable Coral Habitats of the Mediterranean Sea: Overview and Conservation Perspectives

“…These communities can develop both on hard and soft substrata, including detritic bottoms with small scattered substrata, such as small rocks, shells or coral rubble. Hard-bottom coral forests can be settled on both mesophotic rocky bottoms and deep coralligenous bioconstructions (Figure 1a and c), while in the deep sea, they can develop on rocky bottoms, hardgrounds or CWC frameworks [57][58][59][60] (Figure 1d). Antipatharians, also known as black corals (subclass Hexacorallia, order Antipatharia), form monospecific or multispecific forests on hard bottoms in both mesophotic and aphotic zones.…”

“…Antipatharians, also known as black corals (subclass Hexacorallia, order Antipatharia), form monospecific or multispecific forests on hard bottoms in both mesophotic and aphotic zones. In particular, Antipathella subpinnata (Ellis & Solander 1786) is much common on mesophotic bottoms (Figure 1c), Antipathes dichotoma Pallas, 1766 and Parantipathes larix (Esper, 1788) thrive from the mesophotic to the upper aphotic zones, while Leiopathes glaberrima (Esper, 1788) develops mostly on deep bottoms [20,37,39,57,60,61].…”