Overview of the WIO-Benth Project – benthic habitats and megafauna from soft sediments in the Western Indian Ocean

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) hosts substantial marine biodiversity, which is better known from inshore and coastal hab- itats. The diversity from soft sediments of the shelf and slope is much less known regionally, which was the premise for the WIO-Benth Project. Existing seabed information and bottom trawl catch data were compiled for five countries (Kenya, Tanza- nia, Mozambique, South Africa, and Madagascar), to characterize seabed habitats and benthic (demersal trawl) communities of the continental shelf and upper slope in the western part of the WIO. Soft sediment (sand, mud) habitats were spatially dominant (54 %) relative to rock/mixed habitats; associated trawled fauna from these habitats were dominated by Chordata (fishes) and Arthropoda (mainly crustaceans). This overview of the special issue on the WIO-Benth Project provides a summary of the general results, greater details on which are provided in the issue’s constituent papers. In the process of compiling infor- mation and data from the region, the WIO-Benth Project has provided new knowledge to assist with marine spatial planning and decision-making in the WIO.

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Publication Details

Journal
Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science
Published
2025-09-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4314/wiojms.si2025.1.1
Primary Topic
Marine and fisheries research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Overview of the WIO-Benth Project – benthic habitats and megafauna from soft sediments in the Western Indian Ocean

Mary A Kishe, Julius Okondo, Amon Kimeli, Esther Fondo et al.
Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science
Marine and fisheries research
article

Overview of the WIO-Benth Project – benthic habitats and megafauna from soft sediments in the Western Indian Ocean

Mary A Kishe, Julius Okondo, Amon Kimeli, Esther Fondo, Michael J. Roberts, Patrick Vianello, Sílvia Abdula, Pascal Thoya, Arved Staby, Ignacio Sobrino, Chris M. Jenkins, Rui Jorge Mutombene, Sashan L. Manikam, S.T. Fennessy, Bernadine I. Everett, Fiona MacKay, Mathew Silas, Jean Jacaques Be, Mariana Tomalin, Najoro Randrianalisoa, Noah Ngisiange, Andrew Green, Vernon Visser, Cang Hui, Alex Mafuru
article en

Abstract

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) hosts substantial marine biodiversity, which is better known from inshore and coastal hab- itats. The diversity from soft sediments of the shelf and slope is much less known regionally, which was the premise for the WIO-Benth Project. Existing seabed information and bottom trawl catch data were compiled for five countries (Kenya, Tanza- nia, Mozambique, South Africa, and Madagascar), to characterize seabed habitats and benthic (demersal trawl) communities of the continental shelf and upper slope in the western part of the WIO. Soft sediment (sand, mud) habitats were spatially dominant (54 %) relative to rock/mixed habitats; associated trawled fauna from these habitats were dominated by Chordata (fishes) and Arthropoda (mainly crustaceans). This overview of the special issue on the WIO-Benth Project provides a summary of the general results, greater details on which are provided in the issue’s constituent papers. In the process of compiling infor- mation and data from the region, the WIO-Benth Project has provided new knowledge to assist with marine spatial planning and decision-making in the WIO.

Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science(1/2025)
University of Antananarivo (MG), Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), Stellenbosch University (ZA), Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (NO), Tanzania Industrial Research and Development Organization (TZ), Instituto Español de Oceanografía (ES), Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TZ), South African Association for Marine Biological Research (ZA), National Institute for Theoretical Physics (ZA), Council for Geoscience (ZA), Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KE), University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA), Nelson Mandela University (ZA)
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 34%
Marine and fisheries research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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