Report | July 20, 2017

New depth record of the precious red coral Corallium rubrum for the Mediterranean

Live colonies of the precious red coral Corallium rubrum have previously been recorded at depths of 600-800 m in the Sicily Channel, but deep-water populations of this species remain poorly known. During a recent research expedition within the 25 nautical mile Fisheries Management Zone around the Maltese Islands, numerous colonies growing deeper than 800 m, down to depths of 1016 m were observed. These colonies were part of a diverse community of habitat-forming species of scleractinians, gorgonians and antipatharians.

 

Learn more: The survey was carried out as part of LIFE Ba?AR for NK2 project, during Oceana’s 2015 LIFE Ba?AR expedition.