Cold Temperate Coral Habitats

Abstract

Cold-water coral habitats are constituted by a great variety of anthozoan taxa, with reefs and gardens being homes for numerous invertebrates and fish species. In the cold temper- ate North Atlantic, some coral habitats such as Lophelia pertusa reefs, and Primnoa/Paragorgia dominated coral gardens occur on both sides of the Atlantic over a wide latitudinal range. Other habitats, as some dominated by species of Isididae and Chrysogorgidae seem to have a more local/regional distribution. In this chapter, we describe the habitat character- istics of cold-water coral reefs, soft and hard-bottom coral gardens, and sea pen meadows with their rich associated fauna illustrated with numerous photos.