Benthic macrohabitat classification and Madracis spp. coral patch distribution in a deep-sea marine protected area of Colombia

Abstract

Corales de Profundidad National Natural Park (CPNNP), at the central Colombian Caribbean margin, has an extension of 142.195 ha with depths ranging from 34 to 1,234 m. The CPNNP’s essential ecological value is Madracis spp. as potential structure-forming deep-water coral; this work represents the first footages of these unique habitats for the Colombian Caribbean. In 11 sectors, remote video surveys are conducted, based on a detailed digital elevation model. From these sectors, four cover mesophotic zones (46–169m depth), and seven cover aphotic zones (up to 354m depth). After still images’ description and interpretation, a guide was generated with nine types of macrohabitats surrounding the coral formations of the CPNNP: soft substrate (mud/sand), soft substrate/rubble/rock with solitary corals, coral and shell rubble, rock/ledges with attached fauna, rugged stones with attached fauna, hard substrate with attached fauna, sandstone with attached fauna, soft substrate with burrows, and pockmark with attached fauna. Video transect analysis confirms the occurrence of Madracis spp., with coral patches as the main framework builder of the CPNNP. These patches comprise many clumped 50 to 80 cm high coral colonies that developed over slow slopes, with seafloor elevations between 107 and 233 m and textured soils of soft and not very compact ridges, associated with the macrohabitat sandstone with attached fauna. This information is being used for the management and monitoring of this unique protected area.