DEEPSEA CORAL COLLECTION PROTOCOLS: A SYNTHESIS OF FIELD EXPERIENCE FROM DEEP-SEA CORAL RESEARCHERS, DESIGNED TO BUILD OUR NATIONAL CAPACITY TO DOCUMENT DEEP-SEA CORAL DIVERSITY.

Authors

P. Etnoyer, Texas A&M University
S. D. Cairns, Smithsonian NMNH
J. A. Sanchez, Universidad de los Andes
John K. Reed, Florida Atlantic University
Jose V. Lopez, Florida Atlantic University
W. W. Schroeder, The University of Alabama
S. D. Brooke, University of Oregon
L. Watling, University of Maine
A. Baco-Taylor, Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institution
G. C. Williams, California Academy of Sciences
A. Lindner, Duke University
Scott C. France, University of Louisiana
A. W. Bruckner, NOAA Fisheries

Author Type

Faculty

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Around the time that the thirteen original Atlantic colonies were fighting for independence from Britain, there existed little agreement among naturalists as to the nature of corals. Were they inanimate (stones), plants, animals, or intermediate between the latter two (zoophytes)? This diversity of definition and opinions undoubtedly produced considerable confusion and disagreement among naturalists interested in such things. The symbiotic nature of algal cells in the tissues of some corals was also not well understood. It was not until the Darwinian period in the nineteenth century that little doubt remained, and therefore it was generally agreed, that corals were actually animals – heterotrophic living organisms that prey on other organisms for nutrition and do not produce their own food.

In the past fifty years the basic goals and tenets of deep-sea coral collection, curation, and taxonomy have changed little. On the other hand, the techniques and tools of this particular avenue of research have changed significantly. Regarding the collection of material in the field, some aspects remain fundamentally the same. The use of research vessels, bottom trawls, and naturalist’s dredges are still frequently used for deep water research. In shallow water collecting, improvements in SCUBA diving equipment and new innovations, such as Trimix gas and Nitrox diving, have allowed divers to work at greater depths with longer bottom times. Pressure independent dive suits have permitted researchers to attain depths not possible in traditional wet or dry suits. In the past four decades, advances in optics, electronics, and robotic technology have allowed for a rapid sophistication and a broader scope of possibilities regarding manned submersibles, remotely operated vehicles (ROV’s), and more recently, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV’s). Great strides have been made since the early 1990’s in the technological aspects of the collection and photography of the deep water benthos.

Publication Date

2006

Comments

Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution #1643.

Recommended Citation

This publication is available at http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS120470 and may be cited as: Etnoyer, P., Cairns, S. D., Sanchez, J. A., Reed, J. K., Lopez, J. V., Schroeder, W. W., Brooke, S. D., Watling, L., Baco-Taylor, A., Williams, G. C., Lindner, A., France, S. C., & Bruckner, A. W. (2006). Deepsea coral collection protocols: a synthesis of field experience from deep-sea coral researchers, designed to build our national capacity to document deep-sea coral diversity. In P. J. Etnoyer, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-28. (pp. 1-49).