25 Cold-Water Corals and Mud Volcanoes: Life on a Dynamic Substrate

Abstract

Mud volcanoes are prominent features in distinct areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Cádiz. Cold-water corals use these elevated structures as substrate and develop coral reefs during periods of suitable environmental conditions. So far, this partnership has only been reported from the Alborán Sea and the Gulf of Cádiz, where they occurred during the Bølling-Allerød to early Holocene and during the mid to late Holocene.