Cold‐water coral Madrepora oculata in the eastern Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean): Historical and recent findings

Cold‐water coral (CWC) ecosystems are long‐lived, slow‐growing and fragile, which makes them especially vulnerable to physical damage. In recent decades, CWCs have been severely threatened by fisheries, hydrocarbon extraction, pollution and other human activities. In the Mediterranean Sea, some investigations have been carried out on CWC ecosystems, mostly focused on their distributions within the central and eastern basins. Historical reports...