Abstract Crypthelia Milne-Edwards 31°33.774′W. This vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) represents a rare record of fragile and highly endemic corals that reinforces the value of natural heritage protected within a mid-Atlantic ridge MPA. We suggest that the C. vascomarquesi coral garden is included at level 5 of the deep-sea section of the European habitat classification system (EUNIS), as a means to emphasize its conservation value and the monitoring of MPAs.
Sampaio et al. (Tue,) studied this question.