Although species composition resembles that of shallower parts of the 

 reef, a number of scleractinians with branching and flower-like growth forms 

 occur on the Deep Reef which are either not present or very rare in more 

 accessible areas of Looe Key. Species of the genera Madracis and Oculina 

 grow in clusters of small finger-like branches while colonies of Mussa angulosa 

 and Eusmilia fasti giata resemble bouquets of densely packed flowers. Disk-like 

 growth forms of striking shape are found amongst many species of Agariciidae 

 and Mussidae, which occur in appreciable numbers at this depth only. 



While species composition of stony corals in the deeper parts of this 

 zone remains about the same, the number and size of individual colonies 

 increases, making them the dominant component here. Also with increasing 

 depth, an interesting change in the octocoral fauna takes place. Among 

 Pseudopterogorgia species, P. bipinnata far outnumbers all others, and two 

 deep water species occur only here: the rare, monofilament Ellisella barbadensis , 

 and the abundant, fan-shaped Iciligorgia schrammi . 



Among other invertebrates, serpulid worms (Polychaetes) were noted to be 

 common in this area. Only one lobster was observed. The plant community on 

 the Deep Reef consists primarily of encrusting red algae, which become less 

 frequent with increasing depth. In the shallower subzone, an association of 

 green algae can be found, mainly attached to the coarse bottom sediments; 

 they include: Caulerpa spp. , Udotea spp. , Penicillus spp. , Halimeda incrassata , 

 Dasycladus vermicularis , and Rhipocephalus phoenix . Other greens, such as 

 Valonia ventricosa . Halimeda opuntia f. minor , as well as the brown algae 

 Dictyota dichotoma occur frequently on hard substrates. 



Fish found only in the Deep Reef zone, according to the Looe Key Reef 

 Resource Inventory (Antonius et al , 1978) were purple reeffish, ( Chromis scotti ), 

 sunshine fish, ( Chromis insolatus ), spotfin hogfish, ( Bodianus pulchellus ), 

 and scamp, ( Mycteroperca phenax ). Other fish found on the Fore Reef, but 

 more abundant on the Deep Reef were butterflyfishes, hamlets, groupers, blue 

 chromis, and Creole wrasse. These distributions appears normal, as many reef 

 species prefer only certain depth zones (Noyes, 1980). 



On the seaward edge of the coral reef, partially within the proposed 

 sanctuary boundaries extends a blue water environment, characterized by 

 extremely clear transparent water, due to a lack of phytoplankton. This 

 area is the home of many commercially and recreational ly valuable fishes. 

 Along the Florida coast, high populations of these fishes are at least partially 

 supported by the productivity of the reefs and inshore grass beds. Along 

 the reef tract, the large pelagic (open-ocean) fishes feed on bottom fishes 

 and animals which, in turn, have fed on benthic plants and detritus. This 

 short food chain permits more top carnivores to be supported by the extremely 

 high productivity of the reef and inshore environments. Commercially valuable 

 species mostly found in blue water but observed within the proposed sanctuary 

 boundaries are amberjack, grouper, hammerhead shark, king mackerel, Spanish 

 mackerel, and cero mackerel. Others which depend partially on habitat within 

 the proposed boundary include dolphin, ballyhoo, and pompano. 



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