Marine Institute
SeaRover Dive Video

D662 Transect 34 Patches of deep sea sponge aggregations and coral gardens on bedrock. Scattered mud/gravel areas with sparse epifauna. P1. Water depth: 2990m. Feature: Rocky ridge

Highlights: Bamboo coral - Acanella Pink sea fan Deep sea sponge aggregation Hexactinellid sponge - Asconema Pink sea fan & Acanella

Of note: Corals, sponges.

The seafloor is primarily soft sediment either side of a rocky ridge. Fauna is initially sparse and includes the occasional holothurian Mesothuria, cerianthids and anemones, the chrysogorgiid coral Radicipes and the sea pen Pennatula. Along the ridge, there are numerous large vase sponges and flabellate sponges with some stalked hexactinellids. A variety of corals are observed including Chrysogorgia, Anthomastus, several species of black coral (including Telopathes and Stauropathes) and two octocorals, one of which is large and red (perhaps Plexauridae) and the other, a large Isididae.

START VIDEO [00:00:00]/08:16. Patches of deep sea sponge aggregations and coral gardens on bedrock. Scattered mud/gravel areas with sparse epifauna [1] The dive starts on muddy slope. [00:01:00] ROV stops for two pushcores sampling. Steep muddy slope with scarce epifauna with scattered pockets of organic matter. [00:17:00] Glass bottle. [00:23:00] Here steep muddy slope with some pebbles and scarce epifauna. [00:24:00] Muddy slope with pebbles and pteropod hash. Some animal marks. [00:50:00] carbonate boulder with inlets hosting a colony of Chrysogorgiidae and a few Anthomastus grandiflorus. [00:55:00] Here muddy/silty slope with scarce epifauna including Ceriantharia and pteropod shells. Occasional pockets of organic matter. [01:08:00] Pebble/gravel/mud on gentle/moderate slope with no dominant epifauna. [01:09:00] Here hard vertical rock with a variety of epifauna living on it; mainly sponges (of various morphologies) and brisingidae. [01:18:00] mud cloud/ obscured. [01:31:00] Mud cloud/ obscured. [01:34:00] ROV stops for imagery of Jasonisis sp. (excellent imagery of closed-up polyps). ROV stops to collect a snap of Jasonisis sp. . [01:46:00] On this site, deep sea sponge aggregations dominate. Potentially varied species of sponges dominate on the rock. Mainly lamellate, tubular and stalked. Asconema species are present although not abundant. [02:01:00] ROV is hovering on the edge of large boulder/bedrock with a variety of epifauna including sponge, brisingid and chrysogorgidae. END VIDEO 10:16. VIDEO B [02:04:00]/10:22. Obscured vision/mud cloud. [02:07:00] Here silty/muddy slope with sparse epifauna. Now the ROV looks towards the edge of the cliff with sponges and brisingids occur. [02:14:00] Leiopathes sp. closed-up. [02:19:00] Here biotope changes into muddy steep slope. END VIDEO [02:22:00]/10:40.

Progression Start Duration Code Name
1[00:00:00]00:50:19M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
9[00:00:00]00:05:56M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
10[00:05:57]00:06:33M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
11[00:12:31]00:03:12M.AtUA.RoAtlantic upper abyssal rock and other hard substrata
12[00:15:44]00:02:35M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
2[00:50:20]00:04:12M.AtUA.RoAtlantic upper abyssal rock and other hard substrata
3[00:54:33]00:12:47M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
4[01:07:21]00:01:38M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
5[01:09:00]00:17:32M.AtUA.RoAtlantic upper abyssal rock and other hard substrata
6[01:26:33]00:02:02M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
8[01:51:33]00:12:57M.AtUA.RoAtlantic upper abyssal rock and other hard substrata

Foraminifera
Syringammina fragilissima : 261 : R
Porifera
Caulophacus sp. : 1213 : R
Stylocordyla borealis : 1212 : R
Porifera cylindrical sp. 1 : 558 : O
Porifera lamellate sp. 13 : 1053 : R
Porifera massive globose sp. 9 : 380 : O
Cnidaria
Cerianthidae sp. 1 : 2 : R
Cerianthidae sp. 1 : 2 : R
Actiniaria sp. 20 : 605 : R
Actinernus michaelsarsi : 554 : R
Adamsia sp. : 1066 : O
Stauropathes sp. 3 : 1208 : R
Telopathes sp. : 1043 : R
Telopathes sp. 2 (red) : 1181 : R
Anthomastus grandiflorus : 278 : R

Radicipes cf. gracilis : 1044 : R
Chrysogorgidae sp. 1 : 1008 : O
Keratoisis sp. (fine branching) : 1157 : R
Gorgonacea sp. (pink, Solenosmilia assoc.) (Jasonisis) : 1070 : R
Pennatulacea sp. 3 (submerged axis) : 1191 : R
Pennatulacea sp. 6 : 1196 : R
Kophobelemnon stelliferum : 442 : R
Pennatula inflata : 1183 : R
Hydrozoa (flat branched) : 56 : R
Arthropoda
Galacantha sp. : 1144 : O
Paguridae sp. : 205 : O
Caridea (indet.) : 1077 : R
Munidopsis sp. : 1126 : R
Colossendeis sp. 1 : 1059 : R
Cirripedia sp. 2 : 1209 : R
Echinodermata
Crinoidea sp. 1 : 131 : R

Ophiomusa lymani : 551 : R
Brisingidae sp. : 274 : R
Pterasteridae sp. : 1115 : R
Echinothuroidea sp. : 1094 : R
Peniagone sp. : 1167 : R
cf. Benthogone sp. (white) : 574 : R
Psychropotes depressa : 1169 : O
Benthodytes sp. : 1170 : R
Mesothuria intestinalis : 536 : O
Holothuroidea sp. (pink deep) : 1179 : R
Chordata
Ascidiacea sp. (clear) : 591 : R
Coryphaenoides guentheri : 577 : R
Cataetyx laticeps : 1111 : R

Number of species = 44

© Marine Institute, MERC Consultants, Bernard Picton 2022