Abstract
Gorgonians are important organisms in the Mediterranean Sea, where they form rocky benthic communities. Four main species (3 Holaxonia and 1 Scleraxonia) are predominant in infra- and circalittoral communities of the northwestern Mediterranean basin. Other species, such as Eunicella verrucosa (Pallas, 1766), are more rarely encountered. The expansion to unusually shallow bathymetric levels has been noted in the region of Marseilles (France) (between 20 and 40 m depth). A ten-year monitoring of colonies was used to assess the growth rate according to age (size): from 3.33 cm year –1 (height –1 (height > 40 cm).
Highlights
In the Mediterranean Sea, gorgonians include around 20 species, inhabiting a wide bathymetric range (Carpine and Grasshoff 1975, Grasshoff 1992)
On the basis of these results, we have examined various hypotheses related to the settlement and expansion of this species at uncommon bathymetric levels in the northwestern Mediterranean basin
Presence and demographic structure of the E. verrucosa population observed in the Marseilles region
Summary
In the Mediterranean Sea, gorgonians include around 20 species, inhabiting a wide bathymetric range (from the infralittoral to the bathyal stages) (Carpine and Grasshoff 1975, Grasshoff 1992). Four species (three Holaxonia [Eunicella singularis, E. cavolinii and Paramuricea clavata] and one Scleraxonia [Corallium rubrum]) may be frequently encountered up to depths of around 100 m, forming locally dense populations (Carpine and Grasshoff 1975, Weinberg 1978, Gili et al 1989). The gorgonian Eunicella verrucosa (Pallas, 1766) is more rarely observed. This species is found in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean basin (Carpine 1963, Carpine and Grasshoff 1975, Weinberg 1976, Mistri 1995, Vafidis 2009). In the Atlantic, it is present from Scotland to Angola (Grasshoff 1992)
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