Corais escleractíneos em águas profundas: estudo de caso em um recife mesofótico no Atlântico Sul

Abstract

Coral reefs are the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world. Most studies carried out in the last century were conducted in shallow - water reefs (SW) (with depth < 30m). However, the recent technological advances have provided alternative methods to access deep - water communities. Mesophotic reefs (30 - 150m) are considered unique environments of high economic and ecological relevance, as they share some species with SW. The present study aimed at ana lyzing the occurrence and the percentage of scleractinian corals cover of a mesophotic reef located at the Equatorial Atlantic (Canal do Uruaú, Northeast Brazil) based on the visualization of underwater video and image analysis. Amongst the 40 coral colonies found, only 2 species were identified: Montastraea cavernosa (17 colonies) and Siderastrea stellata (23 colonies). Another important result of this work i s the confirmation of morphological adaptations to mesophotic ecosystems (35 - 37m), as the extension of the cover of colonies in the form of plates and the occupation of more exposed regions of the reef, to maximize the utilization of light in deep water environments. The images analyzed in this work confirm the informations found in other works. The methodology used has allowed the qualification and confirmation of the existing species in the mesophotic reef, however its limitations must be discussed and refined on later analyses.