- Place: Chesterfield islands
- Participants:
- Bertrand Richer de Forges (mission chief)
- Georges Bargibant
- C. Garrigue
- A. Gerbault
- M. Kulbicki
- C. Luro
- Jean-Louis Menou
- Renaud Pianet
- Material used:
- Ship: R.V. Coriolis
- Sampling tackles:
- Charcot dredge
- Red snapper longline
- Beam-trawl
- Otter trawl for fish
- Stations list
- Results:
Abstract
In July 1984, a 20-day cruise was carried out on the Chesterfield plateau. The equipment used for collecting the benthos consisted of Charcot dredges, 80 to 120 cm wide, and beam trawls 4 m wide; scuba diving and long-line fishing were also done (68 dredgings, 17 beam trawlings, 14 dives and 10 long-fines sets).
As a result of this first trip it was possible to make a precise record of the bathymetry and the structure of certain submerged elevations (such as the Nova, Lansdowne and Fairway banks), and to confirm the unusual character of the bathyal fauna of this region of the Pacific. Collections were made of several rare or new species of gorgonians, bryozoans, molluscs and fishes. Setting long-lines revealed the presence of red snapper (Etelinae) on the seamounts.
