Marine Institute
SeaRover Dive Video

D666 Transect 17 Mainly rippled sand/mud and pebbles. One patch of Lophelia reef with Aphrocallistes sp. P3. Water depth: 1138m. Feature: Slope, SAC.

Highlights: Chimaera Red sea urchins

Of note: Corals.

There is initially soft sediment with pebbles. Upslope the substrate becomes coarser with more cobbles and pebbles. This is followed by a steep slope of rippled sand and mud. Fauna include glass sponges and demospongiae, some coral rubble is encountered. Clumps of the stone coral Madrepora occulata are encountered (< 1% living). On soft ground echinoids and eels are frequent. Octocorals are observed on hard ground and include frequent clumps of Acanthogorgia, less frequent Candidella, and some plexaurids including Paramuricea. chimerid and some squid also observed.

START VIDEO [00:00:00]/18:16. Mainly rippled sand/mud and pebbles. One patch of Lophelia reef with Aphrocallistes sp. [1] ROV lands on seafloor and provokes mud cloud/obscured. [00:15:00] Obscured/mud cloud. [00:17:00] [2] Here ROV shows a rich faunal shallow mount with Aphrocallistes sp. aggregations living on dead Lophelia coral reef/biogenic reef. The reef, <1% living, hosts various species, including Leiopathes sp. , lobose/globose sponges and octocorals Jasonisis sp. . [00:20:00] [3] Now the ROV moves on and the biotope becomes sand/mud and pebble fields with few epifauna, mainly sea urchins. [00:40:00] [4] Here biotope changes into rippled sand on gentle/moderate slope and fewer epifauna species. Ripples are spread evenly in this section of the transect (strong currents are likely to occur here) hosting very few epifauna. [00:53:00] [5] Here rippled sand and pebble dominate with sparse cobbles. [01:15:00] rubbish. [01:27:00] ROV stops for imagery and sampling of possible Callogorgia verticillata. [01:33:00] obscured/mud cloud. END VIDEO [01:42:00]/19:44.

Progression Start Duration Code Name
1[00:00:00]00:17:15M.AtMB.SaAtlantic mid bathyal sand
2[00:17:16]00:03:15M.AtMB.Bi.CorReeAtlantic mid bathyal cold water coral reef (biogenic structure)
3[00:20:32]00:20:00M.AtMB.SaAtlantic mid bathyal sand
4[00:40:33]00:13:04M.AtMB.SaAtlantic mid bathyal sand
5[00:53:38]00:25:22M.AtMB.SaAtlantic mid bathyal sand

Porifera
Asconema sp. (Porifera massive globose 14) : 650 : R
Aphrocallistes beatrix : 264 : O
Porifera encrusting sp. 1 (white) : 1 : R
Porifera lamellate lobose (fleshy) : 1132 : R
Cnidaria
Pachycerianthus multiplicatus : 458 : R
Actiniaria sp. 20 : 605 : R
Actinostolidae sp. 1 : 132 : R
Phelliactis sp. 1 : 255 : F
Lophelia pertusa : 250 : F
Madrepora oculata : 251 : R
Zoanthidae sp. 2 : 586 : R
Acanthogorgia cf. armata : 608 : R
Callogorgia verticillata : 280 : R
Gorgonacea sp. (pink, Solenosmilia assoc.) (Jasonisis) : 1070 : R

Pliobothrus sp. : 207 : R
Arthropoda
Paguridae sp. : 205 : R
Caridea (indet.) : 1077 : R
Mollusca
Opisthoteuthis extensa : 918 : R
Teuthida sp. 1 : 1017 : R
Hypsogastropoda sp. : 621 : R
Echinodermata
Pentametrocrinus atlanticus : 436 : R
Gorgonocephalus sp. 1 : 214 : R
Brisingidae sp. : 274 : R
Zoroaster fulgens : 988 : R
Pseudarchaster sp. 1 : 433 : R
Echinus sp. : 445 : R
Cidaris cidaris : 211 : R

Echinoidea sp. 1 : 279 : F
cf. Benthogone sp. (white) : 574 : R
Chordata
Rajidae sp. 2 : 382 : R
Rajiformes sp. 1 (Neoraja caerulea?) : 652 : R
Chimaera monstrosa : 265 : R
Synaphobranchus kaupii : 440 : R
Nezumia aequalis : 1003 : R
Lepidion eques : 249 : R
Mora moro : 349 : R

Number of species = 36

© Marine Institute, MERC Consultants, Bernard Picton 2022