Effects of trawling on fish and invertebrates from deep-sea coral facies of Isidella elongata in the western Mediterranean

2011/10/21 by Francesc Maynou, Joan E. Cartes, Joan Enric Cartes · 79 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Bathyal zone #Benthic zone #Biology #Bottom trawling #Coral #Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies #Ecology #Fauna #Fishery #Fishing #Geology #Invertebrate #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Marine and fisheries research #Mediterranean climate #Mediterranean sea #Oceanography #Species richness #Trawling

paper · doi:10.1017/s0025315411001603

published in Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 92(7), 1501-1507 (Cambridge University Press)

openalex publication_date 2011/10/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

Deep-water corals are known to provide essential habitat for fish and invertebrates along the continental slope in different areas of the world, offering prey to coral predators, protection or attachment substrate to other suspension feeders. In the Mediterranean Sea the coral Isidella elongata (Esper, 1788) characterizes a facies of bathyal compact mud substrates between 500 and 1200 m depth. Based on 4 experimental surveys carried out between 1985 and 2008, we obtained quantitative data on the fauna associated with live coral stands. We show that species richness of invertebrates and crustaceans, as well as abundance and biomass of crustaceans, is higher in areas with large stands of the coral. Some commercial fishery species are also more abundant or reach larger sizes in areas with high density of the coral, particularly the red shrimps Aristeus antennatus (Risso, 1816) and Plesionika martia (A. Milne Edwards, 1883). Trawling over I. elongata facies causes direct impacts on the biological assemblages by removing the habitat-forming corals, decreasing invertebrate species diversity and negatively affecting fisheries production in the long term.

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• Mapping the habitat refugia of Isidella elongata under climate change and trawling impacts to preserve Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the Mediterranean. [europepmc]
• Healthy assemblages of Isidella elongata unintentionally protected from trawling offshore of Asinara Island (northwestern Sardinia, NW Mediterranean Sea). [europepmc]
• Biodiversity monitoring in bamboo coral assemblages in the North Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean Basin. [europepmc]

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