Continental shelves and submarine canyons represent peculiar environments that are geologically heterogenous on a small spatial scale (form hundreds to tens of meters) and therefore play a central role in increasing the ecosystem biodiversity. The Cap de Creus continental shelf and Cap de Creus canyon are located in the southernmost sector of the Gulf of Lions, in the northwestern Mediterranean. The Cap de Creus continental shelf contains sandy and muddy sediments and an abrupt morphology, with rocky outcrops, relict bioherms, erosive features, and planar bedforms. The Cap de Creus canyon breaches the shelf at a depth of 110 m and denotes a marked difference in the morphology between the northern and the southern flank, reflecting a different depositional regime. The most common substrates correspond to coarse and medium sands (28%) and silty sediments (40%). The most common megabenthic assemblages of the shelf correspond to the communities of “offshore detritic” (31.95%) and “coastal terrigenous muds” (36.99%), mostly dominated by sea pens, alcyonaceans, and ceriantharians. The northern flank of the Cap de Creus canyon is predominantly depositional, whereas the southern flank is erosional. Rocky outcrops provide the substratum for cold-water coral (CWC) communities' development, in which the white coral Madrepora oculata is the most abundant species.

Depth range
20- 850 m

Mesophotic “mentions”
0 x (total of 3631 words)

Classification
* Presents original data
* Focused on 'mesophotic' depth range
* Focused on 'temperate mesophotic ecosystem'

Fields
Biodiversity
Ecology
Geomorphology

Focusgroups
Crustacea
Hydrozoa
Octocorallia (Soft Corals)
Other invertebrates
Overall benthic (groups)
Scleractinia (Hard Corals)

Locations
Spain - Mediterranean Sea

Platforms
Manned Submersible
Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)
Sonar / Multibeam