Habitat-forming organisms in the offshore seabed of the western Arabian Gulf

Some macro-benthic organisms, such as macroalgae, bryozoans, sponges, and gorgonian corals, can create heterogeneous frameworks of habitats in the surrounding seabed. Such frameworks are important benthic ecosystems, but knowledge of them is fairly limited in the Arabian Gulf, the hottest sea in the world. In this study, the presence of macroalgae, bryozoans, sponges, and gorgonian corals was discovered in the seabed of the western Arabian Gulf. These organisms had positive co-occurrences with a preference for depths of 20 to 50 m. A hotspot of spatial distribution of macroalgae and bryozoans was also identified, located in the northwestern part of the Arabian Gulf. These habitat-forming organisms were distributed in a patchy pattern with low to moderate levels of density. They were positively associated with several commercial fishes, suggesting their importance to fishery. Our discovery extends the distribution of marine habitat-forming organisms into the offshore waters of the subtropical Arabian Gulf.