Epibenthic communities from offshore platforms in the Arabian Gulf are structured by platform age and depth

Oil and gas platforms act as artificial habitats for a myriad of marine organisms. In this study, we used opportunistic remotely operated vehicle (ROV) data to describe fouling assemblages through the characterization of functional groups in the Al Shaheen oil field, situated in Qatari waters. The surveys showed a strong vertical stratification, with the number of functional groups increasing from the surface to the bottom. In addition, the majority of functional groups had their highest frequency of occurrence in the 35-60 m interval. In turn, multivariate analyses showed a slight structure among platforms with different ages. The lowest number of functional groups occurred in the early ages (2-3 years old), and some groups either increased or decreased their frequency and abundance along the years. A step further is now required to determine whether these platform foundations should be converted to reefs after their decommissioning (i.e., Rigs to Reefs approach).