We report here for the first time the effectiveness of Reteporella bryozoan genus in the early stage of coralligenous reefs recolonization through the analysis of the settlement and the population size structure over a two-years period at two impacted and two control sites. Results highlighted how Reteporella spp. colonies strongly recolonized, from 2017 to 2019, the bare coralligenous reefs subjected to the Costa Concordia shipwreck and its related anthropogenic disturbances, notably increasing both their density and percentage coverage. We recorded differences in colony size among impacted and control sites. Overall, large-sized colonies were reported at impacted sites exclusively, where Reteporella settlement and growth patterns differed if compared to control areas. This study highlights implications for the maintenance of the ecological functions, for the recovery processes, and for the future ecological shifts affecting one of the most important Mediterranean coastal ecosystems, the coralligenous reefs.

Depth range
25- 55 m

Mesophotic “mentions”
0 x (total of 4359 words)

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

Fields
Ecology

Focusgroups
Other invertebrates

Locations
Italy - Ligurian-Tyrrhenian

Platforms
Rebreather