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Black coral (Anthozoa, Antipatharia) forest near the western Pontine Islands (Tyrrhenian Sea)

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Abstract

Dense aggregations of antipatharian corals have been discovered by means of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) photo-imaging off the western Pontine Islands (Central-Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). These black coral assemblages are mainly composed of Parantipathes larix and Leiopathes glaberrima . This discovery constitutes an update of their habitat distribution for the Mediterranean Sea and is relevant for the development of focused protection measures for the study area.

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Acknowledgments

This research was performed in the framework of the Flagship Project RITMARE (SP4-WP2-A1). Crews of R/V Urania are gratefully acknowledged for their precious work. A special thanks is due to Carol B. Lutken for the final language check. We would also acknowledge the anonymous reviewers and the editor Bert Hoeksema for their valuable comments and suggestions that greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. L.M. has been supported trough the Marie Curie Fellowship Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-People - Co-funding of Regional, National and International Programmes, GA n. 600407 and RITMARE Flagship Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    M. Ingrassia & F. L. Chiocci

  2. CNR-IGAG (Institute of environmental geology and geoengineering - UOS Sapienza), 000185, Rome, Italy

    M. Ingrassia, L. Macelloni, A. Bosman, F. L. Chiocci & E. Martorelli

  3. NIUST (National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology), University of Mississippi, Mississippi, MS, 38677, USA

    L. Macelloni

  4. Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60131, Ancona, Italy

    C. Cerrano

Authors
  1. M. Ingrassia
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  2. L. Macelloni
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  3. A. Bosman
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  4. F. L. Chiocci
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  5. C. Cerrano
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  6. E. Martorelli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Ingrassia.

Additional information

Communicated by B. W. Hoeksema

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

Short video sequence showing colonies of P. larix observed in Site 1. (MPG 11843 kb)

ESM 2

Short video sequence showing colonies of P. larix observed in Site 2. (MPG 8832 kb)

ESM 3

Short video sequence showing colonies of L. glaberrima observed in Site 2. (MPG 9650 kb)

ESM 4

Short video sequence showing colonies of P. larix observed in Site 3. (MPG 15299 kb)

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Ingrassia, M., Macelloni, L., Bosman, A. et al. Black coral (Anthozoa, Antipatharia) forest near the western Pontine Islands (Tyrrhenian Sea). Mar Biodiv 46, 285–290 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-015-0315-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-015-0315-y

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