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Mediterranean Bioconstructions Along the Italian Coast 107

E. singularis (A4.26A); (5) facies with P. clavata (A4.26B); (6) facies with
P. axinellae (A4.26C); (7) facies with L. sarmentosa (A4.322); and (8) facies
with C. rubrum (A4.713). The remaining four have no EUNIS equivalent
and would require further investigation: (1) facies with Eunicella verrucosa
(Pallas, 1766); (2) facies with L. pruvoti; (3) facies with massive/erect sponges;
and (4) facies with P. fascialis. The distribution of these 12 habitats correlates
with light intensity, geomorphology, sediment load and hydrodynamics
(Cocito et al., 1997). The high spatial, morphological and biological hetero-
geneity of the coralligenous assemblages in Liguria is worth being protected.
In total, the Ligurian coralligenous assemblages cover a surface area of
130.9ha, but only 48.3ha (37%) is within regional or national MPAs
(Ca ´novas Molina et al., 2016).
C. caespitosa banks were abundant during the Pliocene (Peirano et al.,
2009), but are presently rare and localized (Kersting and Linares, 2012;
Kruz ˇi c and Benkovi c, 2008). Their decline led to the inclusion of
C. caespitosa in the IUCN Red List as an “endangered” species (Casado-
Amezu ´a et al., 2015). Following the Natura 2000 Interpretation Manual
(European Commission, 2013), A. calycularis bioconstructions are listed as
biogenic reefs; they are in the list of strictly protected species of the Bern
Convention (Annex II), in the list of Endangered or Threatened species of
the Barcelona Convention (Annex II), but the CITES classified this species
as being of “least concern” in accordance with the IUCN Italian Committee.
Dendropoma cristatum (¼D. petraeum) is a threatened species and it is
included in the Annex II of the Bern Convention and in Annex II of
Barcelona Convention. Moreover, it is included in the EU Habitat
Directive and in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species (Templado
et al., 2004). In Italy, the presence of this species led to the national desig-
nation of MPAs along Sicilian coasts (MPA “Egadi Islands” and MPA “Capo
Gallo—Isola delle Femmine”) and Campanian coasts (MPA “Santa Maria di
Castellabate”). However, only a part of the vermetid reefs (53.3% in fre-
quency and 15.6% in length) are really protected on Northwestern Sicilian
coasts (Chemello, 2009; Chemello et al., 2014), and no vermetid reefs are
protected along the Ionian coasts and the Salento Peninsula.
Regarding Sabellaria reefs no protection measures are provided for the
great majority of them, the only protected reef being placed at the Torre
del Cerrano MPA along the Central Adriatic coast. The deep-water coral
L. pertusa and M. oculata are included in the CITES list (Appendix II)
and, according to Natura 2000 Interpretation Manual of the European
Commission (2013), in the category “Reefs” (habitat type 1170) of the