Baptiste FRATTINI

Sessile communities of Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures on outer coral reef slopes at Mascarenes Archipelago : comparison between shallow and mesophotic coral reef habitat

The cryptobiome of coral reefs remains very little known. Yet it represents the major part of reef biodiversity and a fundamental link in the food web. This PhD project aims to characterize and quantify changes in spatial and temporal composition of the sessile cryptic fauna of coral reefs, fixed on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) deployed on outer reef slopes in the Mascarenes Archipelago (Reunion and Rodrigues). A substantial sampling effort already accomplished at 10m depth will allow to analyze patterns of structuration of sessile communities on sites distant from 2m to 50km, and to define indicator species. Sessile communities of deeper zones, at 55m depth, will be sampled and studied. The project will significantly augment knowledge of the cryptic fauna in mesophotic habitats that could serve as faunistic reservoir for shallow reefs threatened by climate change.