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Deep-water coral reefs from the Uruguayan outer shelf and slope

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Abstract

We report the finding of monospecific scleractinian (i.e. Lophelia pertusa) reefs from the Uruguayan outer shelf and slope during an exploratory joint research cruise onboard the R/V ‘Miguel Oliver’ during January–February 2010. Acoustic mapping of the seafloor allowed the detailed analysis of 8,944 km2, where some 17 structures identified as mounds were detected. Isolated cusps or groups of small mounds were the two main morphologies observed. Mound summit depths ranged from 167 to 326 m. The average height of the mounds was 35 m, reaching a maximum of 67 m. In all sampled mounds, the presence of live coral and/or coral rubble was detected, while absent from surrounding soft sediment bottoms. Some mounds were associated with fluid seepages. This is the first report of deep-sea coral reefs on the Uruguayan continental shelf and slope, and represents the southernmost Western Atlantic shelf and slope record of L. pertusa to date.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the crew of the R/V ‘Miguel Oliver’. Financial support from SGM/IEO (Spain) and DINARA (Uruguay) through UTF/URU/025/URU is acknowledged. W.S. Serra is acknowledged for image processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, CC. 399, CP 11000, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Alvar Carranza & Fabrizio Scarabino

  2. Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos, Constituyente 1497, CP 11200, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Alvar Carranza, Fabrizio Scarabino, Leonardo Ortega, Guzmán López, Paula Franco-Fraguas & Camila De Mello

  3. TRAGSA-Secretaria General del Mar, Núñez de Balboa, 116, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Araceli Muñoz Recio & Antia Fontan

  4. School of Pharmacy and Molecular Science, Coral Genomics Group, James Cook University, Molecular Science Building Annex, Douglas 4811, Townsville, QLD, Australia

    Marcelo Kitahara

  5. Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Corazón de Maria, 8, 28002, Madrid, Spain

    Juan Acosta

Authors
  1. Alvar Carranza
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  2. Araceli Muñoz Recio
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  3. Marcelo Kitahara
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  4. Fabrizio Scarabino
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  5. Leonardo Ortega
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  6. Guzmán López
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  7. Paula Franco-Fraguas
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  8. Camila De Mello
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  9. Juan Acosta
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  10. Antia Fontan
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Consortia

GRUPO MIGUEL OLIVER URUGUAY 0110

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alvar Carranza.

Additional information

Vicente Alfajeme Benítez-Cano, Fernando Andrade, Miguel Ángel Bécares Baruque, Ricardo Gómez de Paz, Patricia Jiménez, Yamandú Marín, and Luis Rubio are members of the Grupo Miguel Oliver Uruguay 0110

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Carranza, A., Recio, A.M., Kitahara, M. et al. Deep-water coral reefs from the Uruguayan outer shelf and slope. Mar Biodiv 42, 411–414 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-012-0115-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-012-0115-6

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