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Seamount attractiveness to top predators in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (central Mediterranean)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2015

C. Fiori ,
C. Paoli Open the ORCID record for C. Paoli [Opens in a new window] ,
J. Alessi Open the ORCID record for J. Alessi [Opens in a new window] ,
A. Mandich  and
P. Vassallo Open the ORCID record for P. Vassallo [Opens in a new window]
C. Fiori*
Affiliation:
Department of Land, Environment and Health Science, University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy MENKAB: il respiro del mare, Savona, Italy
C. Paoli
Affiliation:
Department of Land, Environment and Health Science, University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy
J. Alessi
Affiliation:
Department of Land, Environment and Health Science, University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy MENKAB: il respiro del mare, Savona, Italy
A. Mandich
Affiliation:
Department of Land, Environment and Health Science, University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy
P. Vassallo
Affiliation:
Department of Land, Environment and Health Science, University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to:C. Fiori, Department of Land, Environment and Health Science, University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy email: cristina.fiori@unige.it
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Abstract

Seamounts are expected to attract pelagic top predators due to the higher abundance of possible prey aggregating around these structures. The importance of seamounts on benthic fauna and bottom fish is vastly documented, while little is known about their role as possible hotspots of pelagic biodiversity. This aspect is poorly investigated in the Mediterranean Sea, a basin considered a hotspot of endemism and biodiversity where, in addition, seamounts are widely present, with 227 structures. Our study focuses on the determination of the attraction effect of seamounts on some pelagic species in a Mediterranean sub-basin: the Tyrrhenian Sea. Here, seamounts are thought to be attraction structures for pelagic top predators. Cetaceans and sea turtles were found to be the most attracted taxa among the top predators taken into consideration with peak of presence around 5–10 miles from the seamounts.

Keywords

spatial analysiscetaceansassociationswordfishtunaseabirdssea turtlesseamountsMediterranean Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 96 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 769 - 775
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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