Much attention is currently devoted at upgrading our knowledge on biodiversity and functioning of deep water ecosystems. Information is constantly enriched by researchers, even from basins as the long-studied Mediterranean Sea. In such a perspective, we studied meiobenthic and nematode communities inhabiting muddy sediments from three different habitats at bathyal depths in the Strait of Sicily: a cold-water coral site (CS) in...

Recent ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) exploration and bottom sampling in the southern Adriatic Sea (Apulian and Montenegrin margins) resulted in the discovery of cnidarian-rich deep-sea habitats in the depth range of ca. 400-700 m. In particular, ROV inspection of Montenegrin canyons reveals the existence of megabenthic communities dominated by a variety of cnidarians, including scleractinians (Madrepora oculata, Lophelia per...