Black coral occurrences on the Azores shelves (central north Atlantic) from 1991 to 2019

Fernando Tempera; Pedro Afonso; Ana Luísa Sinde-Mano; José Gomes-Pereira; Elizabeth Atchoi; Valentina Matos; Vanessa Santos; David Milla-Figueras; Diya Das; Goncalo Graca; Jorge Fontes; Richard Bates; Pedro Ribeiro; Pedro Afonso

doi:10.14284/557

Black coral occurrences on the Azores shelves (central north Atlantic) from 1991 to 2019

Citation

Tempera F.; Sinde-Mano A.L.; Gomes Pereira J.N.; Atchoi E.; de Matos V.; Santos S.V.; Milla-Figueras D.; Das D.; Graça G.; Fontes J.; Bates R.; Ribeiro P.; Afonso P.; IMAR-Institute of Marine Research, University of the Azores, Portugal; (2021): Black coral occurrences on the Azores shelves (central north Atlantic) from 1991 to 2019. https://dx.doi.org/10.14284/557 accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-14.

Description

Black corals are antipatharian corals that occur from sublittoral to abyssal depths on hard, mixed and soft substrates. Under favourable conditions, some black coral species form dense stands known as black coral gardens which create habitat for a variety of associated species.

Additional info

Black coral occurrences are considered indicative of the presence of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems according to the International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries in the High Seas (FAO, 2009). Furthermore, their international trade is regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species because of concerns about the effects of black coral extraction on the fragile habitats they form. Dense stands of Antipathes wollastoni, Tanacetipathes sp., Antipathes furcata and Antipathella subpinnata have been observed on the Azores shelves but knowledge on their distribution and the assemblages they form is scarce. This dataset compiles black coral occurrences from sublittoral surveys conducted across the Azores archipelago (NE Atlantic) between 1991 and 2019. Sampling concentrated on island shelf and margin settings and was conducted using a variety of platforms: (i) two small remote operated vehicles (a VideoRay Explorer micro-ROV and a SeaBotix LBV300S-6 mini-ROV); (ii) two custom-made drop-down cameras built from Tritech MD4000, GoPro Hero3+ and GitUp Git 2 cameras; and (iii) SCUBA diving using both conventional and closed-circuit systems. The compilation comprises 2353 presences and absences identified at depths ranging between 3m and 264 m. Acknowledgements: To the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for grants and individual contracts awarded to Fernando Tempera (refs: SFRH/BD/12885/2003, SFRH/BPD/79801/2011), V. de Matos (SFRH/BD/86390/2012) and P. Afonso (IF/01640/2015) and Okeanos Strategic Program. To projects MARÉ (Life-Nature B4-3200/98/509), OGAMP (INTERREG IIIb— MAC/4.2/A2 2001), MARMAC (INTERREG IIIb—03/MAC/4.2/A2 2004), POOC São Miguel – Costa Norte, CoralFish (EC-FP7ENV/2007/1/213144), CORAZON (FCT/PTDC/MAR/72169/2006), MARFOR (EC-BIODIVERSA/004/2015), PLATMAR (FCT/PTDC/GEO-GEO/0051/2014) and Mission Atlantic (EC H2020-LC-BG-08-2018) for funding surveys throughout the archipelago and work by F. Tempera, J.N. Gomes Pereira, V. de Matos and D. Milla i Figueras. To the Azores Regional Government for funding the projects MoniZec, BALA, MoniZec-ARP and MONICO via the Regional Foundation for Science & Technology (DRCT/FRCT) and the Regional Directorate for Maritime Affairs (DRAM).

Taxonomic Coverages

urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:22549

Antipatharia
rank: order

Geographic Coverages

ANE, Azores

EurOBIS calculated BBOX > station Bounding Box

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Fernando Tempera
originator
Institute of Marine Research

Pedro Afonso
originator
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4618-2589

Ana Luísa Sinde-Mano
originator
Institute of Marine Research

José Gomes-Pereira
originator
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4351-3522

Elizabeth Atchoi
originator
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3102-0509

Valentina Matos
originator
Institute of Marine Research

Vanessa Santos
originator
Institute of Marine Research

David Milla-Figueras
originator
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5368-2664

Diya Das
originator
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8730-6456

Goncalo Graca
originator
Institute of Marine Research

Jorge Fontes
originator
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8451-5532

Richard Bates
originator
University of St Andrews

Pedro Ribeiro
originator
Institute of Marine Research

Pedro Afonso
originator
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4618-2589

Fernando Tempera
metadata author
Institute of Marine Research

Pedro Afonso
point of contact
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4618-2589

Ana Luísa Sinde-Mano
content provider
Institute of Marine Research

José Gomes-Pereira
content provider
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4351-3522

Elizabeth Atchoi
content provider
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3102-0509

David Milla-Figueras
content provider
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5368-2664

Diya Das
content provider
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8730-6456

Goncalo Graca
content provider
Institute of Marine Research

Jorge Fontes
content provider
Institute of Marine Research
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8451-5532

Pedro Ribeiro
content provider
Institute of Marine Research

Valentina Matos
point of contact
Institute of Marine Research

Vanessa Santos
content provider
Institute of Marine Research

Richard Bates
point of contact
University of St Andrews

Fernando Tempera
administrative point of contact
Institute of Marine Research