Habitat and fauna of deep-water Lophelia pertusa coral reefs off the southeastern US: Blake Plateau, Straits of Florida, and Gulf of Mexico

• Main Authors: Reed, John K., Weaver, Doug C., Pomponi, Shirley A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami 2006
• Subjects: Coral reef ecology; Corals > Habitat > Congresses; Deep sea corals; Oceanographic submersibles; Remote submersibles; Weaver; Lophelia pertusa
• Online Access: http://digitool.fcla.edu:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=3172090

Expeditions from 1999 to 2004 for biomedical research explored various deep-sea coral ecosystems (DSCE) off the southeastern U.S. (Blake Plateau, Straits of Florida, and eastern Gulf of Mexico). Habitat and benthos were documented from 57 dives with human occupied submersibles and three with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), and resulted in ~100 hrs of videotapes, 259 in situ digital images, 621 museum specimens, and > 400 microbial isolates. These were the first dives to document the habitat, benthic fauna, and fish diversity of some of these poorly known deepwater reefs. This manuscript is available at http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/bms and may be cited as: Reed, J. K., Weaver, D. C., & Pomponi, S. A. (2006). Habitat and fauna of deep-water Lophelia pertusa coral reefs off the southeastern US: Blake Plateau, Straits of Florida, and Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science, 78(2): 343-375. Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution #1610.