BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2015, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 3-12 |
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Deep-sea (cold-water) coral communities of the North Pacific and problems of their conservation Far East State Marine Biosphere Reserve, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041 E-mail: This review paper is devoted to the deep-sea (cold-water) coral communities of the North Pacific. The composition of these communities differs from that of the deep-sea coral communities of the Atlantic Ocean and the South Pacific. In the former case, the community structure is mainly determined by octocorals (soft and horn corals, sea pens) and stylasterids; in the latter case, the dominant coral group is hard (true) corals (order Scleractinia). The distribution of corals in the North Pacific is described. The main threats to deep-sea coral communities, primarily bottom trawling and oil and gas exploration and extraction, are discussed. The location of deep-sea coral communities at the Kuril Islands was found for the first time. The most interesting and endangered sites are proposed to create marine protected areas: the southern and middle Kuril Islands and Kashevarov Bank. Key words: deep-sea corals, cold-water coral communities, threats, marine protected areas. |
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