Santín, A.; Grinyó, J.; Uriz, M. J.; Lo Iacono, C.; Gili, J. M.; Puig, P. (2021). Mediterranean Coral Provinces as a Sponge Diversity Reservoir: Is There a Mediterranean Cold-Water Coral Sponge Fauna?. Frontiers in Marine Science. 8.
Cold-water coral reefs (CWC) are known to be biodiversity hotspots, however, the
sponge assemblages found to dwell within these habitats haven not been studied in
depth to date in the Mediterranean Sea. The present article provides the first insight
on the associated sponge fauna of the recently discovered CWC communities on the
Catalan Margin and, to a lesser extent, the Cabliers Coral Mound Province, while also
reviewing the current knowledge of the sponge fauna dwelling in all the Mediterranean
CWC provinces. In regards to the studied areas, some rare species are cited for
the first time in the Mediterranean or redescribed, while two of them, Hamacantha
(Hamacantha) hortae sp. nov. and Spongosorites cabliersi sp. nov. are new to science.
At a basin scale, Mediterranean CWC appear as poriferan biodiversity hotspots, yet
current diversity values on each site rather represent a small fraction of its actual
fauna. Additionally, the existence of an endemic sponge fauna exclusively dwelling
on CWC is refuted. Nonetheless, the sponge fauna thriving in Mediterranean CWC
appears to be unique, and different from that of other Atlantic regions. Finally, with
the current knowledge, the sponge fauna from the Mediterranean CWC is grouped
in three distinguishable clusters (Alboran Sea, Western and Eastern Mediterranean),
which appears to be determined by the basins water circulation, specially the Levantine
Intermediate Water and the Atlantic Water following a western-eastern pattern from
the Strait of Gibraltar to the Adriatic Sea. Overall, sponge living in Mediterranean CWC
are still poorly explored in most areas, yet they appear to be good candidates for
biogeographical studies.
Mediterranean Sea in general
Biodiversity, Taxonomic and ecological diversity
Systematics, Taxonomy
