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Biodiversity assessment in a unique marine cave of Crete (Eastern Mediterranean): sessile macrobenthos

Poster · April 2019

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5 authors, including:

Markos Digenis Vasilis Gerovasileiou

Ionian University Ionian University
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Georgios Chatzigeorgiou Thanos Dailianis

Hellenic Centre for Marine Research Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
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Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Porifera Red List Assessment for the Mediterranean View project

Sternes cave Expedition - Lefka Ori (White Mountains), Greece View project

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 Biodiversity assessment in a unique marine cave of Crete (Eastern Mediterranean):
sessile macrobenthos

Markos Digenis1,2, Vasilis Gerovasileiou1*, Georgios Chatzigeorgiou1, Thanos Dailianis1, Christos Arvanitidis1

1 Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology, and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 71500 Heraklion Crete, Greece
2 Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, 70013 Crete, Greece

* e-mail: vgerovas@hcmr.gr

Introduction
Marine caves constitute unique environments for the study of marine biodiversity.
The Elephant Cave was discovered two decades ago and is the most emblematic and
highly visited marine cave in the island of Crete (Greece, Eastern Mediterranean).
Ιt stands out for its aesthetic value
with a variety of speleoforms and
the remaining fossil bones of deers
and elephants which are part of the
island’s Pleistocene fauna.
Aim
The study of the extant sessile benthic diversity
of the Elephant Cave, using visual census and
photographic techniques with SCUBA diving.

Materials & Methods

DΖ
The study focused on three distinct ecological zones of the cave, specifically:
SΖ
the Entrance Zone (EZ), the Semi-dark Zone (SZ) and the Dark Zone (DZ).
ΕΖ
• 25 quadrats (25 x 25 cm) were photographed at 5 sites along the zones of
the cave (5 replicates per site): EZ walls, EZ ceiling, SZ walls, SZ ceiling and
walls of the semi-submerged DZ
Modified from V. Giannopoulos • photoQuad software was used for the analysis of photoquadrats

Results
A total of 37 sessile taxa were identified (9 Macroalgae, 1 Foraminifera, 14 Porifera, 3 Cnidaria, 2 Polychaeta, 2 Mollusca, 4 Bryozoa and 2
Brachiopoda). Macroalgae were dominant at the EZ walls and ceiling (mean coverage 75%), followed by Bryozoa (14%). Porifera (43%) and
Bryozoa (31%) were the most abundant taxa on the walls of the SZ, while the ceiling was mainly covered by Bryozoa (16%) and Brachiopoda
(8%). The walls of the DZ had very limited macrobenthic coverage, mainly consisting of polychaete tubes (6%). Macroalgae
EZ walls EZ ceiling SZ walls SZ ceiling DZ walls Porifera
3.2
0.4 2 2.6 Cnidaria
3 0.6 6.6 7.2 6.4 0.2
2.6 12.6 19 Polychaeta
15.4
1
30.8 15.6 Mollusca
7.2
67 8.2 Bryozoa
73.4 75.6 43.2 90.8 Brachiopoda
1.6
3.2
0.6 Non-living
substrate
Conclusions
• The surface cover of sessile benthos decreased from the entrance towards the dark chamber of the cave, with different taxa dominating
at different zones of the cave.
• This work serves as a first assessment of the cave’s biotic and abiotic characteristics, while a more detailed study of its macrofaunal and
environmental features is in progress.

EZ walls EZ ceiling SZ walls SZ ceiling DZ walls

We acknowledge support of this work by the project “Centre for the study and sustainable exploitation of Marine Biological Resources
(CMBR)” (MIS 5002670) which is implemented under the Action “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure”, funded by
the Operational Programme"Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation" (NSRF 2014-2020) and co-financed by Greece and the
European Union (European Regional Development Fund).
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