The red tree coral Primnoa pacifica is an important habitat forming octocoral in North Pacific waters. Given the prominence of this species in shelf and upper slope areas of the Gulf of Alaska where fishing disturbance can be high, it may be able to sustain healthy populations through adaptive reproductive processes. This study was designed to test this hypothesis, examining reproductive mode, seasonality and fecundity in both undamaged and simulated damaged colonies over the course of 16 months using a deepwater-emerged population in Tracy Arm Fjord.

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distribution modelling; generalized additive models; deep-sea coral; deep-sea sponge; habitat; spatial management; Alaska

The objective of the present analysis was to construct models that could predict the distribution, abundance and diversity of deep sea corals and sponges in the Aleutian Islands. Generalized additive models were constructed based on bottom trawl survey data collected from 1991 to 2011 and tested on data from 2012.

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new species; Porifera; Demospongiae; Astrophorida; Geodia; Aleutian Islands; North Pacific; Alaska

A new species of Geodia is described from the North Pacific, collected in the summer of 2012 in the western Aleutian Islands. Geodia starki sp. nov. differs from all known species of Geodia by the possession of two categories of sterrasters and exceptionally large megascleres. The new species is compared with congeners of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, Arctic and the North Atlantic Oceans.

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new demosponges; Aleutian Islands; Alaska; North Pacific; Bering Sea

Two new species of the genus Stelletta and one new species of Ancorina are described from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and compared to congeners of the region. This is the first record of the genus Ancorina in the North Pacific Ocean. Stelletta ovalae Tanita 1965 is also reported for the first time from the Bering Sea and Alaska.

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Porifera; taxonomy; new species; Aleutian Islands; Gulf of Alaska; Alaska; Poecilosclerida; Axinellida; Dictyoceratida

Ten new species of demosponges, assigned to the orders Poecilosclerida, Axinellida and Dictyoceratida, discovered in the Gulf of Alaska and along the Aleutian Island Archipelago are described and compared to relevant congeners.

marine resources conservation; seamounts; submarine topography

Over the past decade, there has been a strong push to protect seamount communities from threats ranging from deep-sea fishing to harvesting of non-living marine resources. A number of resource protection mechanisms exist for seamounts, ranging from national legislation to multi-lateral agreements to conserve seamounts on the high seas, using the authority of international instruments.

coral reef ecology; deep-sea corals; management; marine ecosystem management; sponges; workshop report

On April 22–23, 2014, scientists and resource managers met in Honolulu to identify critical information needs for deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems in the Pacific Islands Region. The goal of the workshop was to develop a 3-year exploration and research priorities plan.

Deep Sea Corals; Geographical Distribution; Habitat; Imaging; Multibeam Mapping; Octocorallia; Sponges

To inform discussions of deep-sea coral management and fish habitat usage, we are providing the New England Fishery Management Council with a brief review of research surveys conducted in 2013 and 2014. These surveys identified coral-dominated communities in U.S. deep waters (200-250 m depth) of the northern Gulf of Maine. This report focuses only on geographic distributions of octocorals based on direct observations. 

Benthos, Deep Sea Corals, Ecology, Habitat, Marine Ecosystem Management, Sponges, Site characterization

Porifera, Cladorhizidae, Deep Sea Ecology, Deep Sea Biology, taxonomy

Here we describe four additional species, including two species of Asbestopluma and two species of Cladorhiza. We report on species ranges, habitat, and ecology, including one from a chemosynthetic environment that appears to be using methane-oxidizing bacteria as a nutrient source.