NURP and OE supported work documents unstudied
deep-sea corals
This story entered on 21st May, 2008 07:18:57 AM
PST
Scientists with support from NOAA Undersea Research Programs
Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina Wilmington
and Ocean Exploration in collaboration with the National Marine
Fisheries Service, U.S. Geological Survey, North Carolina Museum
of Natural Sciences, the State of North Carolina, South Atlantic
Fishery Management Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, and
the Minerals Management Service conducted a series of NOAA lead
expeditions to document deep sea coral habitats on the continental
slope off the east coast from North Carolina to central Florida,
in an area known as the Blake Plateau.
Research scientist discovered a number of animals thought to be
rare, but found common around the corals, documented many animals
outside of their previously known ranges, and discovered a number
of new species. Prior to these expeditions to explore and document
deep coral habitats off the coast of the southeastern U.S., little
was known about the location or extent of these reefs, how they
form, and what marine species are dependent upon them.
The habitat explored was composed primarily of the deep sea coral
species Lophelia pertusa, the most common reef-building cold-water
coral and found throughout the world. It has been found as far north
as Nova Scotia in the western North Atlantic Ocean colonizing seamounts
and other hard surfaces, but does not form the extensive banks that
are found off the North Carolina coast, where Lophelia reefs may
be tens to hundreds of thousands of years old.
Unlike the colorful corals found in shallow tropical waters, Lophelia
lacks zooxanthellae, the symbiotic algae which live inside most
tropical reef-building corals. Generally white in color, Lophelia
is fragile and slow growing. It lives in water depths between 80
and 3,000 meters (roughly 260 to 9,850 feet), but is most commonly
found between 200 and 1,000 meters (about 650 to 3,300 feet) depth,
where there is no sunlight, and water temperatures range from about
4 to 12 °C (between 39 and 54°F).
News organization: Science Daily
Air time: Tue, May 20 2008 at 1:00 AM Eastern
Contact information:
Name: John D Tomczuk
Tel: (301) 734-1009
John.Tomczuk@noaa.gov
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