ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1590577
LINKING OIL PLATFORMS AND NATURAL REEFS: INSIGHTS INTO MOBILE EPIFAUNA DYNAMICS
Provisionally accepted
- 1Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
- 2Research and Development, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
- 3Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
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Artificial substrates are increasingly used in marine ecosystems to support benthic communities, providing habitat and enhancing biodiversity in areas where natural substrates are scarce. In this study, stainless-steel settlement plates were deployed for 13 months across depths ranging from 10 to 44 m between the Al Shaheen Oil Platforms and offshore natural reefs in the Qatari EEZ, to investigate the vertical distribution of mobile epifaunal assemblages. The results revealed distinct patterns in species distribution, with taxa such as polyclads and sipunculids predominantly found in shallow waters, while deeper sections showed lower abundance, diversity, and biomass. Although no significant horizontal gradient patterns emerged between reefs, strong connectivity was observed across all sites, suggesting that the settlement plates functioned as effective "stepping stones" for mobile fauna. The most prevalent functional groups included surface deposit feeders (sipunculids), carnivorous flatworms, and polychaetes, with notable associations between sessile bivalves and mobile taxa such as sipunculids and flatworms in shallower depths, and crabs with dead barnacles at greater depths. A total of 2,302 individuals from 42 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were recorded, including the first report of Galathea sp. in Qatari waters. This research provides baseline data on mobile benthic communities in offshore artificial reefs, offering insights into their role in promoting connectivity between natural reefs and enhancing biodiversity. It also sets the stage for future studies on the recruitment of macro-benthic communities on artificial structures, contributing to the development of best practices for the commissioning and decommissioning of oil and gas platforms and supporting reef rehabilitation and fisheries enhancement strategies in the region.
Keywords: offshore reeds, benthic communities, Ecological distribution, Oil platforms, Invertebrates
Received: 09 Mar 2025; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Aziz, Riera, AlDibis, Ben-Hamadou and Range. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Rodrigo Riera, Research and Development, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 38206, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Pedro Range, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
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