NAFO SC Studies No. 42 (2009)

Coral Identification Guide NAFO Area

(pdf 8.3 MB)

E. Kenchington¹, M. Best¹, A. Cogswell¹, K. MacIsaac¹, F. J. Murillo-Perez², B. MacDonald¹,
V. Wareham³, S. D. Fuller⁴, H. I. Ø. Jørgensbye⁵, V. Sklyar⁶ and A. B. Thompson⁷

¹Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
²Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Vigo, Spain
³Fisheries and Oceans, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Center, St John’s,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
⁴Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
⁵Gronlands Fiskerilicenskontrol, Greenland Home Rule, Nuuk, Greenland
⁶Knipovich Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography,
Murmansk, Russian Federation
⁷NAFO Secretariat, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

Kenchington, E., M. Best, A. Cogswell, K. MacIsaac, F. J. Murillo-Perez, B. MacDonald, V. Wareham, S. D. Fuller, H. I. Ø. Jørgensbye, V. Sklyar, and A. B. Thompson. 2009. Coral Identification Guide NAFO Area. NAFO Sci. Coun. Studies, 42: 1-35. doi:10.2960/S.v42.m1

Abstract

Accurate reporting of benthic corals is increasingly important for mapping distributions and for the continued development of sustainable fisheries under the ecosystem approach. This coral identification guide is intended to help those on-board commercial and research fishing vessels to identify and record the various species of coral likely to be commonly encountered in fishing trawls. The guide is clear and simple to use, and will provide names to the majority of these beautiful bottom-dwelling animals. The photographs are typically of caught specimens taken on the deck, as this gives the best picture of what is actually seen. Sadly, we rarely personally see corals in their natural habitat, except by looking at films and photos taken by deep underwater cameras.