RT Journal Article
T1 Avilés Canyon System: Increasing the benthic biodiversity knowledge
A1 Ríos, Pilar
A1 Altuna, Álvaro
A1 Frutos, Inmaculada
A1 Manjón Cabeza, Eugenia
A1 García Guillén, Laura
A1 Macías Ramírez, Aurora
A1 Ibarrola, Teodoro P.
A1 Gofas, Serge
A1 Taboada Moreno, Sergio
A1 Souto, Javier
A1 Álvarez, Fernando
A1 Saiz Salinas, Jose I.
A1 Cárdenas, Paco
A1 Rodríguez Cabello, Cristina
A1 Lourido, Antía
A1 Boza, Cristina
A1 Rodríguez Basalo, Augusto
A1 Prado, Elena
A1 Abad Uribarren, Alberto
A1 Parra, Santiago
A1 Sánchez, Francisco
A1 Cristobo, Javier
AB Macro and megafauna were studied in the Avilés Canyon System (ACS), southern Bay of Biscay (Cantabrian Sea), during several oceanographic cruises carried out from 2009 to 2017. The biodiversity of ACS is summarized and its description is herein updated after sampling surveys of several programmes (ECOMARG, INDEMARES, SponGES, INTEMARES) conducted by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO). This study has updated previous knowledge in the canyon area from past national and international projects, their reports and publications as well as data collected in the context of regional projects designed to gain new insight into the diversity of marine invertebrates and fishes from the ACS. Samples were taken using a range of sampling gears (Rock dredge, Beam trawl, Trawl gear GOC-73, Suprabenthic sledge, Box corer and Remoted operated vehicle), from 55 to 2291 m in depth. A total of 1015 species were identified at the ACS: 98 Porifera, 153 Cnidaria, 14 Brachiopoda, 22 Bryozoa, 97 Mollusca, 151 Annelida, 315 Arthropoda, 74 Echinodermata and 91 Chordata. New records for the Bay of Biscay fauna include 13 Porifera species, 17 Cnidaria, 7 Mollusca, 8 Arthopoda, 3 Echinodermata and 4 Chordata. Also the bathymetric range of some species has been extended. As a result of the research projects carried out in the area in the last fifteen years, important information is now available which suggests that the ACS houses a large number of species with a high ecological value, that it represents a biodiversity hotspot in terms of the presence of sponge aggregations and coral reefs in certain regions, and that it sustains important fisheries due to the abundance of comercial species. Given the relevance of the species and habitats occurring in the ACS, there is a need to implement a conservation and management plan of the area in order to maintain habitats in good state of preservation.
PB Elsevier
SN 0272-7714
YR 2022
FD 2022-09
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/125036
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/125036
LA eng
NO Ríos, P., Altuna, Á., Frutos, I., Manjón-Cabeza, E., García-Guillén, L., Macías-Ramírez, A., Ibarrola, T. P., Gofas, S., Taboada, S., Souto, J., Álvarez, F., Saiz-Salinas, J. I., Cárdenas, P., Rodríguez-Cabello, C., Lourido, A., Boza, C., Rodríguez-Basalo, A., Prado, E., Abad-Uribarren, A., et al. (2022). Avilés Canyon System: Increasing the benthic biodiversity knowledge. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 274. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ECSS.2022.107924
NO The study of Avilés Canyon System has been done within the framework of the EU-funded Nature + LIFE INDEMARES (07/NAT/E/000732) and INTEMARES (LIFE15 IPE ES 012) projects; the Fundación Biodiversidad (Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment) was responsable for the coordination of this project, involving different scientific institutions and NGOs'. The SponGES project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 679849. ST received funding from the grant PID2020-117115GA-100 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/50110001103. JS received support by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, project number P 33733-B).
NO European Commission
NO Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente  (España)
NO Fundación Biodiversidad
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO Austrian Science Fund
DS Docta Complutense
RD 18 oct 2025