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On the Linosa trough, between 803–536-m depth, have been observed both the fossil and
live coral communities thriving under overhangs and in large caves, and they were
particularly common in volcanic bedrock sequences, while on the neighbouring plateau,
where the mud has been observed to be bioturbated by crustacean burrows and by grazing
tracks of holothuroids and cidaroid echinoids, the sessile benthos is dominated by the
octocorals Isidella elongata and Funiculina quadrangularis.
In the Urania-Nameless Bank, from 654 to 440-m water depth, the colonies of M. oculata
measured up to 70 cm high and 50 cm wide, while those of L. pertusa rarely exceed 10 cm in
size (Freiwald et al. 2009).
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