Deep-Sea Soft Coral Habitat Suitability

Deep-sea corals, also known as cold water corals, create complex communities that provide habitat for a variety of invertebrate and fish species, such as grouper, snapper, and sea bass. The map depicts the relative likelihood of finding suitable habitat for soft corals at a given location and is a prediction based on a statistical model relating several environmental characteristics to the presence of soft corals using observations of soft coral. Soft corals, unlike stony corals, do not form calcium-based skeletons. A common example of a soft coral is a sea fan. Please also reference the "Deep-Sea Stony Coral Habitat Suitability" layer. Predictions from these habitat suitability models can be used to support conservation and management of deep-sea corals and to assist with targeting areas for mapping and exploration.