ABSTRACT
Introduction New research over the last two decades has revealed complex habitats formed by corals and sponges in deeper waters around the world. While less well known than shallowwater tropical coral reefs, the three-dimensional features formed by many deep-sea corals and sponges provide habitat for numerous species and represent an important component of deep-sea ecosystems (Roberts et al. 2009, Hogg et al. 2010). The speed with which these new discoveries have been translated into conservation action, both in U.S. waters and internationally, has been unprecedented. The primary target of these conservation efforts has been the impacts of commercial sheries.
