Marta Gil

University of Vigo | UVIGO

This paper describes the study of a small collection of Sertularioidea Lamouroux, 1812 (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) collected along the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME) during four oceanographic surveys performed between 2005 and 2008. The samples were collected at 12 stations located at depths between 18 and 359 m using a bottom trawl and a P...

In this paper, we study material belonging to the hydroid genera Egmundella Stechow, 1921 and Cyclocanna Bigelow, 1918 collected off the coast of Northwest Africa, from Morocco to Guinea Bissau, between 2004 and 2012, during several international surveys. Currently, the genus Egmundella is included in the family Campanulinidae Hincks, 1869, but its...

In this report, we analyse the benthic hydroids collected on the Vema and Valdivia seamounts during a survey conducted in 2015 in the SEAFO Convention Area, focused on mapping and analysing the occurrence and abundance of benthopelagic fish and vulnerable marine ecosystem (VMEs) indicators on selected Southeast Atlantic seamounts. A total of 27 hyd...

This paper provides the results obtained after study of a small collection of benthic hydroids belonging to the superfamily Plumularioidea McCrady, 1859 collected during four oceanographic surveys, carried out between 2005 and 2008 along the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME) off the West African coast. The samples were obtained at nine...

In this paper, we have discussed benthic hydroids collected from Mauritanian cold-water coral mounds during the Spanish–Mauritanian surveys Maurit-0911 and Maurit-1011 and the German cruise MSM 16/3 conducted in 2009 and 2010. A total of 35 species, 26 genera and 16 families were identified, of which 33 species were found to grow in this habitat. T...

In this paper, two new species of the genus Rosalinda found growing on bivalves from West African cold-water coral mounds are described. Rosalinda nowaldi sp. nov. was found on Acesta angolensis (Adam & Knudsen, 1955) off northern Angola, and Rosalinda lundalvi sp. nov. on Acesta excavata (Fabricius, 1779) off Mauritania. Both new species have a si...

Most of the Southeast Atlantic Ocean is abyssal, and global bathymetries suggest that only ~3.2% of the areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ; also known as the high seas, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS]) are shallower than 2 500 m. This study mapped bathymetry and characterised substrates in selected s...

In a descriptive study of megafauna of several Southeast Atlantic seamounts, multiple video-transects on upper slopes and summits documented the occurrence of benthic invertebrate taxa, primarily corals, regarded as indicators of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) as defined in international guidelines. At Schmitt-Ott Seamount there was a pronounc...

In a descriptive study of megafauna of several Southeast Atlantic seamounts, multiple video-transects on upper slopes and summits documented the occurrence of benthic invertebrate taxa, primarily corals, regarded as indicators of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) as defined in international guidelines. At Schmitt-Ott Seamount there was a pronounc...

This paper is the result of the study of large collections of Sertulariidae Lamouroux, 1812 (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Hydroidolina) obtained from continental margins of Northwest Africa by several Spanish and Norwegian surveys between 2004 and 2012. Material collected from Lusitanian seamounts by the French Seamount 1 expedition and from the Great Meteo...

Human activities in continental margins have progressively increased during the last decades, threatening vulnerablemarine ecosystems in many continental slopes, such as cold-water coral reefs, seamounts and canyons. In order to protect these ecosystems and ensure the sustainable management of resources, countries and organizations should endorse e...

During the four Maurit surveys carried out annually from 2007 to 2010, 342 trawl stations were sampled off the Mauritanian coast between 80 and 2000-m depth. Hydroids were captured at 174 stations, totalling 6169 colonies belonging to 63 species and 19 families. Most of the species were Leptothecata and only seven belonged to Anthoathecata. Thirty-...

The hydroid fauna from the Atlantic coast of Morocco is currently the best known in Northwest Africa. This knowledge is due to the work of Patriti (1970), based on the study of hydroid collections of the Institut Scientifique Chérifien de Rabat, that also includes previous available records from the literature. Other relevant contributions were the...

The marine fauna of West Africa remains poorly known, mainly in waters deeper than 30 m (Decker et al, 2004) despite this area includes one of the most diverse and productive marine areas of the world oceans linked to upwelling phenomena. Guinea Bissau is located between two highly productive ecosystems, the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (C...

Mauritanian continental margins are dominated by muddy bottoms criss-crossed by a complex systems of submarine canyons. This unstable environment, with turbidity currents and wide slumping areas, could appear as an unsuitable habitat for benthic hydroids, regarded as characteristic and abundant representatives of the sessile epifauna on hard bottom...

The benthic hydroids collected on five lusitanian seamounts (Seine, Ampère, Lion, Gorringe, Josephine and Galice bank) during the French “SEAMOUNT 1” cruise, and those collected on the Great Meteor bank during the German “METEOR 42/3” cruise were studied. Global hydroid diversity account for 67 species included in 15 families. The most specious wer...

Deep-waters are one of the most unknown habitats on Earth, but the displacement of fishing fleets into ever deeper waters, the emerging exploitation of mineral resources and climate change threaten to destroy these ecosystems whose functioning we just begin to understand (Levin & Sibuet, 2012). Superfamily Plumularioidea is the most important group...