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Distribution, ecology and morphology of Lytocarpia myriophyllum (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa), a Mediterranean Sea habitat former to protect

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Abstract

In the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in other parts of the word, intense bottom trawling threatens deep and mesophotic assemblages, compromising mainly the survivorship of erect organisms and of the habitat complexity they shape. Protection of species able to affect their habitats, by increasing spatial complexity and enhancing interspecific interactions, is crucial for biodiversity conservation. It is urgent to highlight the occurrence of those species which act as ecosystem engineers and/or habitat former to enhance awareness on their ecological role and to develop focused conservation strategies. Lytocarpia myriophyllum is the largest Leptomedusan hydroid of the Mediterranean Sea, with colonies up to 1 m high, and the most abundant Aglaopheniid in the eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean. This species creates wide forests on soft bottoms stabilizing sediments, providing refuge and food for several other associated organisms and could be defined both a habitat former and an ecosystem engineer. Thanks to trimix diving here we report on new insights on the morphological, biological and ecological features of L. myriophyllum meadows from the Mediterranean Sea furnishing a baseline for protection plans focused on these facies. This work demonstrates that direct studies of mesophotic habitats allow to collect far more detailed information than grabs, ROVs, or towed camera arrays and highlights the urgent need to redefine the vertical extension of several marine protected areas.

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Acknowledgments

The research has been partially funded by PRIN 2008 Italian funds (2008YBEANX_002), by the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society (grant Grant Agreement 8876-11), the EC Grant Agreement No. 287844 (FP7/2007-2013) for the project “Towards COast to COast NETworks of marine protected areas (from the shore to the high and deep-sea), coupled with sea-based wind energy potential” (COCONET), the Flagship Project RITMARE—The Italian Research for the Sea—coordinated by the Italian National Research Council and funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research within the National Research Program 2011–2013. Portofinodivers provided the technical assistance during sampling activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento per lo studio della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131, Ancona, Italy

    Cristina G. Di Camillo, Fabrizio Torsani & Carlo Cerrano

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via per Monteroni, 73047, Lecce, Italy

    Ferdinando Boero & Cinzia Gravili

  3. CNR-ISMAR, Via De Marini 6, 16149, Genova, Italy

    Ferdinando Boero

  4. Centro Educazione Ambientale, Comune di Imperia, 18100, Imperia, Italy

    Monica Previati

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  1. Cristina G. Di Camillo
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  2. Ferdinando Boero
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  3. Cinzia Gravili
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  4. Monica Previati
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  5. Fabrizio Torsani
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  6. Carlo Cerrano
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Correspondence to Carlo Cerrano.

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Di Camillo, C.G., Boero, F., Gravili, C. et al. Distribution, ecology and morphology of Lytocarpia myriophyllum (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa), a Mediterranean Sea habitat former to protect. Biodivers Conserv 22, 773–787 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0449-9

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