Tricase Submarine Canyon: cold-water coral habitats in the southwesternmost Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea)

The Tricase Canyon is a 20-km-long submarine canyon, incising the southernmost Apulian margin at the boundary between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, in the Mediterranean basin. The canyon indents the continental margin at depth of -120 m and reaches a maximum depth of approximately -900 m. The Tricase Canyon is disconnected from direct fluvial system and has no other tributaries. The shallower area of the canyon is generally characterized by a sparse cnidarian occurrence which includes Protoptilum carpenteri, representing the easternmost occurrence of this species known in the Mediterranean basin. The cold-water corals Madrepora oculata, Desmophyllum pertusum, and Desmophyllum dianthus colonize deeper areas (approximately -800 m), settling preferentially on blocks interpreted as mass waste deposits.