This study analyzes the fauna composition of the community of brittle and sea stars associated with sponge aggregations located in Avilés Canyons System and El Cachucho, Marine Protected Area (MPA). Diverse sampling methods were used depending on bottom morphology, such as rock dredges and specific samplers for sedimentary bottoms, mainly beam trawl models. These banks are made up of sponge and coral species that build a very appropriate substrate for the proliferation of benthic species, which together create Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems that are highly relevant for management and conservation. Among these benthic species, echinoderms are of great interest due to their value as indicators of good habitat. In total, 1261 specimens were collected (934 brittle stars and 327 starfishes), belonging to 42 species (28 ophiuroids and 14 asteroids) from INDEMARES AVILÉS, ECOMARG, and SponGES project surveys. Specimens were distributed among four sponge aggregations (F: fields) that were considered according to the sponge records obtained in the same stations (36). These fields were defined and named based on the five most common sponge species: Aphrocallistes beatrix and Regadrella phoenix (F1: Avilés Canyon); Pheronema carpenteri (F2: Intraslope basin of Le Danois Bank); Asconema setubalense (F3: Le Danois Bank); and Neoschrammeniella aff. bowerbankii (F4: Corbiro Canyon). Faunistic results show that Ophiactis abyssicola (55.55% occurrence), Brisinga endecacnemos, Ophiolycus purpureus, and Peltaster placenta (33.33%) were the most frequently found species in F1; Psilaster andromeda (80%), Pseudarchaster parelii (60%), and Nymphaster arenatus (46.67%) in F2; Ophiura carnea (71.43%) and Ophiacantha smitti (42.86%) in F3; and Ophiacantha densa, and Henricia caudani (100%) in F4. The asteroid and ophiuroid species collected seem to be composed of four different communities that fit to areas with particular morphological and biological features, related to the presence of species specialized in the use of the resources they can find there. In general, the abiotic factor controlling this structure is depth. This assemblage structure, which favors the dissimilarity between the canyons and the bank, is not so clear, since the deepest stations are located on the intraslope basin of El Cachucho, Marine Protected Area (MPA), therefore, using it a priori could lead to misunderstandings. Once the structure of the echinoderm community was known, we compared the expected and obtained results to analyze evidence which should prove the existence of any association between echinoderms and sponges, which enabled us to refute the incongruous hypothesis.

中文翻译：

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与海绵聚集相关的小行星和 Ophiuroids 作为海洋栖息地的关键。阿维莱斯峡谷系统与海洋保护区 El Cachucho 的比较分析

本研究分析了与位于阿维莱斯峡谷系统和海洋保护区 (MPA) 的 El Cachucho 的海绵聚集相关的脆性和海星群落的动物群组成。根据底部形态使用了不同的采样方法，例如岩石疏浚和沉积底部的特定采样器，主要是束拖网模型。这些库由海绵和珊瑚物种组成，它们为底栖物种的增殖构建了非常合适的基质，它们共同创造了与管理和保护高度相关的脆弱海洋生态系统。在这些底栖物种中，棘皮动物因其作为良好栖息地指标的价值而备受关注。共收集到 1261 个标本（934 颗脆星和 327 条海星），属于来自 INDEMARES AVILÉS、ECOMARG 和 SpongES 项目调查的 42 个物种（28 个 ophiuroids 和 14 个小行星）。根据在相同站点 (36) 中获得的海绵记录，样本分布在四个海绵聚集体（F：领域）中。这些领域的定义和命名基于五种最常见的海绵物种：Aphrocallistes beatrix 和 Regadrella phoenix（F1：Avilés Canyon）；Pheronema carpenteri（F2：Le Danois 银行的内坡盆地）；Asconema setubalense（F3：Le Danois Bank）；和 Neoschrammeniella aff。bowerbankii (F4: Corbiro Canyon)。动物学研究结果表明，Ophiactis abyssicola（发生率为55.55%）、Brisinga endecacnemos、Ophiolycus purpureus 和Peltaster placenta（33.33%）是F1 中最常见的物种；Psilaster andromeda (80%), Pseudarchaster parelii (60%), F2中的Nymphaster arenatus (46.67%)；F3 中的 Ophiura carnea (71.43%) 和 Ophiacantha smitti (42.86%)；F4 中的 Ophiacantha densa 和 Henricia caudani (100%)。收集到的小行星和类鸦片类物种似乎由四个不同的群落组成，这些群落适合具有特定形态和生物特征的区域，这些特征与专门利用它们在那里可以找到的资源的物种的存在有关。一般来说，控制这种结构的非生物因素是深度。这种有利于峡谷和河岸之间差异的组合结构并不那么明显，因为最深的站点位于海洋保护区 (MPA) El Cachucho 的内坡盆地，因此，先验地使用它可能会导致误解。一旦知道棘皮动物群落的结构，