Unveiling the state of some underexplored deep coralligenous banks in the Gulf of Naples (Mediterranean Sea, Italy)

In order to evaluate the status of deep coralligenous banks of Mediterranean Sea, a monitoring project was implemented to improve their knowledge, and to investigate on the principal issues characterizing these communities. In particular, ROV-video analysis revealed, among the main stressors, the increase of sediment resuspension and deposition probably due to trawl fishing, causing a decrease of coralligenous cover. The impact of this pressure leads to an overall loss of diversity and abundance, with changes in community structure and dynamics. Monitoring activities on large spatio-temporal scales are therefore very useful and needed to assess change patterns and to suggest appropriate management and conservation tools.