CANNAS , R.

The aim of this paper is to supply an overview of all historical and recent knowledge on landings, fishing and geographic distribution of the red coral banks along the Italian coasts in order to make a contribution to the conservation and future management of this resource. Along the Italian coasts, the banks have been exploited for millennia,...

Presence of over 200 spotted catshark Scyliorinus canicula egg capsules associated with long lived black coral Leiopathes glaberrima was observed in the South West Coast of Sardinia, describing a thousand years old nursery area for Elasmobranches. The forest, composed by 153 colonies, was discovered during a ROV survey carried out in October...

The whip-like gorgonian Viminella flagellum (Alcyonacea, Ellisellidae) has an Atlantic-Mediterranean distribution. In Italian seas, the species is a common component of deep-sea rocky environments from the north-western Mediterranean area to the Strait of Sicily. V. flagellum grows in deep habitats, sometimes outlining the environment with...