Effects of deep-water coral banks on the abundance and size structure of the megafauna in the Mediterranean Sea

The Santa Maria di Leuca (SML) coral banks represent a rare example of living Lophelia-Madrepora-bearing coral mounds in the Mediterranean Sea. They are located between 350 and 1100 m in depth, in the northern Ionian Sea (eastern-central Mediterranean). Using a multi-beam echo sounder, side-scan sonar, high-resolution seismics and underwater video, the zones were identified for the sampling demersal fauna without damaging the coral colonies....