Recommendations for best practice in deep-sea habitat classification: Bullimore et al. as a case study.

Abstract

We assert that the reef framework-forming coral, Solenosmilia variabilis Duncan, 1873, is sometimes incorrectly recorded as another coral, Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus, 1758) in surveys of deep-sea habitat (e.g. Bullimore, R., Foster, N., and Howell, K. 2013. Coral-characterized benthic assemblages of the deep Northeast Atlantic: defining “Coral Gardens” to support future habitat mapping efforts. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 511–522). Accurate species lists are critical for developing robust deep-sea habitat classification schemes that allow us to map the distribution of different vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) and predict their occurrences under future climate change scenarios, both of which help prioritize areas for marine protected areas. We recommend that the survey reported by Bullimore et al. (2013), as well as analogous surveys, consider the likelihood of Solenosmilia having been misidentified, and revise their data if necessary. We also make two further recommendations for best practice in deep-sea habitat classification using Bullimore et al. (2013) as a case study. Preferably, physical specimens should be obtained during deep-sea surveys. However, in the absence of identifications confirmed with specimens, image-based analyses of deep-sea communities can be achieved with high confidence when (i) independent validation is provided by senior taxonomic specialists in taxa that are indicators of VMEs, such as cold-water coral reefs, coral gardens, sponge grounds, cold seeps and xenophyophore fields; and (ii) stronger consideration is given to methods in classical taxonomy, the chemical oceanographic setting and community ecology.