Recifes de Coral de Profundidade: Corais Construtores e sua Distribuição no Brasil

Abstract

Deep-sea coral reefs and coral habitats are hotspots of biodiversity and provide numerous resources for fishing, bioprospecting and science. The deep-water coral reefs and coral aggregates were first discovered in locations off the coast of Norway, in 1865. The increase of commercial operations in deep waters, and the use of advanced technology in offshore areas have revealed the true scale of deep-sea coral ecosystems of Europe, until then virtually unknown. From the 1990’s, there was a considerable increase in the number of important scientific contributions on deep-sea coral habitats. So, today is known that the occurrence of coral reefs is not restricted to shallow waters of tropical and subtropical regions and that there are deep-sea coral reefs spread out of the world, including Brazil. The goal of this study was to indicate the existence of potential areas of deep-sea coral reefs/habitats along the Brazilian coast, from records of occurrence of coral reef builders species (Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata, Solenosmilia variabilis, Dendrophyllia alternata and Enallopsammia rostrata). The examination of the records/specimens demonstrated an extensive and almost continuous latitudinal distribution of the coral species along the Brazilian coast. Fishing is the main cause of impact to deep-sea coral reefs in several regions of the world. For more than a decade the deep demersal fishing has been held in Brazil and the extent of the impact caused by fishing nets, used by the boats close to the reefs, is unknown. The data presented here provide a contribution not only to the scientific community, but also to the decision makers regarding the uses of areas of the Brazilian shelf and slope, which represent reservoirs of rich marine biodiversity.