Deep-Sea Ecosystems Off Mauritania

About this book

Deep-Sea Ecosystems off Mauritania compiles the main findings of the multidisciplinary long-term research program developed in the continental margin of one of the more productive and unknown areas of the world oceans, Northwest Africa. The more than 25,000 preserved fishes and benthic invertebrates and quantitative data collected in 342 trawling stations, the 267 oceanographic profiles, the 211 sediment samples and the 28,122 km² prospected by multibeam echo sounding allowed to obtain an overview of the amazing biodiversity of the demersal and benthic fauna inhabiting soft- and hard-bottom habitats, as well as the fascinating geomorphology and oceanography, hidden in the Mauritanian slope.

Contents

1. Deepsea Ecosystems off Mauritania: An Introduction
2. The Mauritanian Margin Bathymetric and Geomorphological Characteristics
3. Oceanography of the Cape Verde Basin and Mauritanian Slope Waters
4. Demersal Ichthyofaunal Assemblages in Mauritanian Waters
5. Deep Chondrichthyes in Mauritanian Waters
6. Overlapping Distribution of Two Sympatric Species: The Case of Black Hakes, Merluccius polli Cadenat 1960 and Merluccius senegalensis Cadenat 1960, off Mauritania
7. An Overview of Bathyal Softbottom Megabenthos off Mauritania
8. Composition and Distribution of Epibenthic and Demersal Assemblages in Mauritanian Deep Waters
9. Decapod Assemblages in Mauritanian Waters
10. Cephalopods in Mauritanian Waters
11. Hydrozoans from Mauritanian Deep Waters
12. Echinoderms of Mauritanian Deepsea Bottoms
13. The Giant Coldwater Coral Mounds Barrier off Mauritania
14. A First Insight into the Megabenthos of the Mauritanian Canyons
15. Wolof’s Knoll: A Small Seamount on the Mauritanian Continental Slope
16. Faunistic Collections of Demersal and Benthic Species from Mauritania
17. An Overview of the Biodiversity and Ecosystems off Mauritanian Deep Waters