engleski

Depth distribution of corals in the coralligenous of the eastern Adriatic Sea

One of the major gaps concerning the current state of knowledge of coralligenous community in the Adriatic Sea is the scarcity of information on species bathymetrical distribution. The coralligenous is considered as one of the most important "hot spots" of species diversity in the Mediterranean. It is also characterized by harbouring a great number of endangered species, which are long‐lived organisms, whose slow growth and recruitment rates make them very sensitive to disturbances. The minimal depth for the formation of coralligenous concretions depends on the amount of irradiance reaching the sea bottom. Coralligenous concretions can appear in very shallow waters if light conditions are dim enough to allow a great development of coralline algae. In the Adriatic Sea, on the vertical slopes, the minimal depth reaches about 20 meters. Differences among species of corals in tolerances to several physical factors (currents, light, temperature and sedimentation) are thought to determine the upper and lower limits of species depth distributions. The most common coral species are Parazoanthus axinellae, Epizoanthus arenaceus, Alcyonium coralloides, Alcyonium acaule, Paramuricea clavata, Eunicella singularis, E. cavolini, Leptopsammia pruvoti, Hoplangia durotrix, Caryophyllia inornata, C. smithii and Madracis pharensis. Populations of red coral (Corallium rubrum) declined in most areas in the Adriatic Sea, particularly in shallow coralligenous.

corals ; coralligenous ; Adriatic Sea

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