conservation measures of its Marine Reserve and to the publication of a monograph
on its marine biota (García Raso et al. 1992). Later on (1995–1996), the same
authority funded a project that produced the first detailed maps of seagrass meadows
in Almería and a further project (2001–2003) on the Andalusian marine macrophyte
grounds that resulted in a collective monograph on the seagrass meadows and other
marine vegetation of the Andalusian coasts (southern Spain) (Luque and Templado
2004).
The exploration of the Strait of Gibraltar also started in the 1980s. In May, 1986,
an intensive sampling around Ceuta, at the eastern entrance of the Strait, was
organized as a joint venture of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle of Paris
and the University of Seville. This was mainly targeted to molluscs, and, although no
synthetic report was ever published, the material collected there was the basis for the
description or revision of many species (Gofas 1987, 1992, 1993; García-Gómez and
Ortea 1988; García-Gómez et al. 1989; Salvini-Plawen 2003). Mostly based on this
material, Gofas (1998) stated the enormous interest of the Strait because of the
presence of several short-range endemics, unusual on a mainland shoreline. In the
Strait of Gibraltar and surroundings, intensive studies of the fauna and the benthic
communities followed under the impulse of José Carlos García Gómez, at the
University of Seville. He created there the Marine Biology Laboratory, supervised
many doctoral theses on the benthos of the area (J. Lucas Cervera Currado on
opisthobranch gastropods, 1988; Carlos M. López Fé de la Cuadra on bryozoans,
1990; Pablo López-González on anthozoans, 1993; José Luis Carballo on sponges,
1994; Santiago A. Naranjo Lozano on tunicates, 1995; Mª Dolores Medel Soteras on
hydrozoans, 1996; Juan E. Sánchez Moyano on the epifauna of photophilous algae,
1996, among others) and carried on many projects which eventually culminated with
mapping the nearshore communities and with the creation of the “Parque Natural del
Estrecho” in January 2003 (see García Gómez et al. 2003).
For the purpose of conservation and sustainable development, the regional
authority launched in 2004 the Sustainable Management of the Andalusian Marine
Environment Program (Junta de Andalucía 2008–2019). A highly specialized technical team, distributed throughout the Andalusian coast with the intention of gathering homogeneous information, supports the annual surveys. Through this
programme, more than 2500 records of the 87 threatened species of marine invertebrates were collected in the Red Book of the Invertebrates of Andalusia (BareaAzcón et al. 2008); hundreds of hectares of seagrass meadows of the four species of
marine angiosperms present in the Andalusian coast were mapped, and more than
1000 sightings of cetaceans were made. In total, the biodiversity inventory comprises more than 900 species on the coasts and the Andalusian marine environment.
The Museo del Mar Ceuta foundation, established in 2006, opened a further basis
of operation where bionomic studies were carried out, particularly on the extraordinarily diverse sea bottoms surrounding Ceuta’s Monte Hacho and Benzú, which
were declared as Sites of Community Importance in July 2006. The results of this
series of surveys are summarized in a book by Ocaña et al. (2009).
Somewhat later, at the beginning of this century, exploration of the coast of
Granada was initiated by the late Amelia Ocaña, of the University of Granada. The
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J. L. Rueda et al.
on its marine biota (García Raso et al. 1992). Later on (1995–1996), the same
authority funded a project that produced the first detailed maps of seagrass meadows
in Almería and a further project (2001–2003) on the Andalusian marine macrophyte
grounds that resulted in a collective monograph on the seagrass meadows and other
marine vegetation of the Andalusian coasts (southern Spain) (Luque and Templado
2004).
The exploration of the Strait of Gibraltar also started in the 1980s. In May, 1986,
an intensive sampling around Ceuta, at the eastern entrance of the Strait, was
organized as a joint venture of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle of Paris
and the University of Seville. This was mainly targeted to molluscs, and, although no
synthetic report was ever published, the material collected there was the basis for the
description or revision of many species (Gofas 1987, 1992, 1993; García-Gómez and
Ortea 1988; García-Gómez et al. 1989; Salvini-Plawen 2003). Mostly based on this
material, Gofas (1998) stated the enormous interest of the Strait because of the
presence of several short-range endemics, unusual on a mainland shoreline. In the
Strait of Gibraltar and surroundings, intensive studies of the fauna and the benthic
communities followed under the impulse of José Carlos García Gómez, at the
University of Seville. He created there the Marine Biology Laboratory, supervised
many doctoral theses on the benthos of the area (J. Lucas Cervera Currado on
opisthobranch gastropods, 1988; Carlos M. López Fé de la Cuadra on bryozoans,
1990; Pablo López-González on anthozoans, 1993; José Luis Carballo on sponges,
1994; Santiago A. Naranjo Lozano on tunicates, 1995; Mª Dolores Medel Soteras on
hydrozoans, 1996; Juan E. Sánchez Moyano on the epifauna of photophilous algae,
1996, among others) and carried on many projects which eventually culminated with
mapping the nearshore communities and with the creation of the “Parque Natural del
Estrecho” in January 2003 (see García Gómez et al. 2003).
For the purpose of conservation and sustainable development, the regional
authority launched in 2004 the Sustainable Management of the Andalusian Marine
Environment Program (Junta de Andalucía 2008–2019). A highly specialized technical team, distributed throughout the Andalusian coast with the intention of gathering homogeneous information, supports the annual surveys. Through this
programme, more than 2500 records of the 87 threatened species of marine invertebrates were collected in the Red Book of the Invertebrates of Andalusia (BareaAzcón et al. 2008); hundreds of hectares of seagrass meadows of the four species of
marine angiosperms present in the Andalusian coast were mapped, and more than
1000 sightings of cetaceans were made. In total, the biodiversity inventory comprises more than 900 species on the coasts and the Andalusian marine environment.
The Museo del Mar Ceuta foundation, established in 2006, opened a further basis
of operation where bionomic studies were carried out, particularly on the extraordinarily diverse sea bottoms surrounding Ceuta’s Monte Hacho and Benzú, which
were declared as Sites of Community Importance in July 2006. The results of this
series of surveys are summarized in a book by Ocaña et al. (2009).
Somewhat later, at the beginning of this century, exploration of the coast of
Granada was initiated by the late Amelia Ocaña, of the University of Granada. The
290
J. L. Rueda et al.