| Summary: | Serrano, A. . et. al.-- XIII International Symposium on Oceanography of the Bay of Biscay. ISOBAY 13, 11-13 April 2012, Santander, Spain The INDEMARES project deals with the study of 11 marine areas in the Spanish EEZ, aiming to obtain the necessary information to identify valuable areas for Natura 2000 Network. Galicia Bank, a large seamount located at 150 miles far from the west coast of Galicia, is one of these selected areas. This deep seamount has a flat summit with slight slopes from 600 m to the bank break around 1000 m. Deeper 1500 m on its western flank, slope increases sharply until it reaches the abyssal plain 5000 m. Epibenthic fauna was collected with a beam trawl whereas demersal fauna were collected with a GOC73 otter trawl. A total of 372 species were identified until now (113 fishes, 67 crustaceans, 50 cnidarians, 48 molluscs, 28 porifera, 27 echinoderms, 25 annelids and 14 belonging to other taxa). Multivariate analyses show the existence of 4 benthic assemblages. The shallowest one (750–780 m) is dwelled by epibenthic fauna characterised by a still unidentified ophiuroid, the solitary corals Deltocyathus moseleyi and Flabellum chuni, the bivalve Limopsis minuta the fishes Hoplostethus mediterraneus, Mora moro and Lepidion eques, and the crab Cancer bellianus. The second assembla-ge (780–1000 m) is characterised by cold-water coral communities dominated by Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata, and an associated fauna of solitary corals (Desmophyllum dianthus), small crustaceans (Uroptychus spp., Munidopsis spp.) and antipatharians.These two assemblages are located on the flat sedimentary area of the bank summit, with low organic matter content and sandy sediments. The third assemblage, located on the bank break (1000–1100 m), in carbonate sea-floor areas with scarce sedimentary coverage, is typified by benthopelagic shrimps (Systellaspis debilis, Sergia robusta, Aristaeopsis edwardsianus), the sponge Thenea muricata, the urchin Cidaris cidaris, the fish Alepocephalus bairdii and the shark ...
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