DOCSLIB.ORG

Aspects of Feeding Behaviour of West Indian Reef Corals

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Aspects of Feeding Behaviour of West Indian Reef Corals ASPECTS OF FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF WEST INDIAN REEF CORALS William Stephen Price Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science, March 1973. ® William Stephen Price 1973 ABSTRACT The feeding behaviour of 35 species of West Indian hermatypic corals was observed underwater, on the reefs off Bellairs Institute, Barbados, West Indies. Observations were supplemented by laboratory study. Food varied from large zooplankton to fine suspended particulate material, which was secured and ingested by tentacular activity and mucus secretions. Long 'sweeper tentacles', up to 80 mm in length, were observed in the polyps of several species. Ciliary currents did not reverse in any of the species and did not aid directly in feeding. Extracoelenteric activity of mesenterial filaments is not considered normal behaviour. William Stephen Price Marine Sciences Centre McGill University Résumé Le comportement nutritif de 35 espèces de coraux hermatypiques des Antille fut observé sous l'eau, sur les récifs au large de l'Institut Bellairs, à la Barbade, aux Petites Antilles. Les observations furent complétées par des études en laboratoire. La nourriture est saisie et absorbée grâce à l'activité des tentacules et à sécrétions mugueuses. Sa grosseur varie entre le zooplancton de grande taille et la matiére particulaire en suspension. Chez quelques espèces, de longues "tentacules balayeuses" atteignant jusqu'à 80 mIn de longueur furent observées dans les polypes. Les courants ciliares n'ont pas été inversés chez aucune des espèces et n'ont pas aidé directement à la nutrition. L'activité extracoelentérique des filaments mésentériques n'est pas considérée comme un comportement normal. Stephen William Price Marine Sciences Centre NcGill University i TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Page l Materia1s and Methods 10 Resu1ts 13 Group l 15 Group II 53 Group III 76 Group IV 103 Discussion 110 Sunnnary 117 Literature Cited 120 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS l would like to express my appreciation to those people who have made this project possible: Dr. John Wells, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, who identified several coral specimens; Mt. Bruce Ott and Mt. Alex Urban who took part in many hours of diving with me; and Dr. John Lewis, to whom l wish to express special thanks, as my supervisor who supplied both academic and financial assistance, and suggested the project. Hi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Systematic list of Barbados hermatypic coral species examined. Page 8 Table 2. Division of the 35 species of hermatypic corals into four feeding groups. 13 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Barbados showing location of reefs and study sites. Page vii 2. Porites porites - fully expanded 19 3. P. porites - ciliary currents 20 4. P. porites - tentacular feeding 20 5. 1. astreoides - fully expanded 22 6. P. astreoides - mucus sheath 22 7. Madracis mirabilis - fully expanded 27 8. M. mirabilis - ciliary currents 28 9. M. mirabilis - tentacular feeding 28 10. M. mirabilis - 'sweeper tentacle' 29 11. M. mirabilis - ingestion of organic particles 29 12. Eusmilia fastigiata - fully expanded 31 13. E. fastigiata - branching tentacles 32 14. E. fastigiata - ciliary currents 32 15. Montastrea cavernosa - fully expanded 35 16. M. cavernosa - 'sweeper tentacles' 36 17. M. cavernosa - tentacular feeding 36 18. M. cavernosa - mucus strand feeding 37 19. M. cavernosa - feeding with polyps contracted 37 20. Mussa angulosa - fully expanded 39 21. M. angulosa - ciliary currents 40 22. M. angulosa - tentacular feeding 40 23. Isophyllia multiflora - fully expanded 42 24. I. multiflora - tentacular feeding 42 25. I. multiflora - ingestion of organic particles 43 26. Dichocoenia stokesi - fully expanded 45 27. ~. stokesi - partially expanded [,.5 28. Favia fragum - fully expanded 48 29. K. fragum - partially expanded 49 30. F. fragum - ciliary currents 50 31. F. fragum - ejection of mucus bolus 50 v Figure 32. Stephanocoenia michelini - fully expanded Page 52 33. Colpophyllia sp. - fully expanded 59 34. Colpophyllia sp. - ciliary currents on periphery of colony 60 35. Colpophyllia sp. - ciliary currents 60 36. Colpophyllia sp. - excretion of fecal bolus 61 37. Colpophyllia sp. - mucus strand feeding 61 38. Colpr~hyllia sp. - 'zipper action' of tentacles 62 39. Colpophyllia sp. - 'zipper action', sequence of movements 63 40. Colpophyllia sp. - capture of small zooplankton 64 41. Colpophyllia sp. - baffle or 'snow fence' effect 64 42. Diploria clivosa - fully expanded 66 43. D. strigosa - fully expanded 68 44. D. labyrinthiformis - fully expanded 70 45. D. labyrinthiformis - 'zipper action' 71 46. MYcetophyllia lamarckiana - expanded soft tissue 73 47. M. lamarckiana - solitary tentacle structure 74 48. M. lamarckiana - tentacular feeding 74 49. M. lamarckiana - juvenile form 75 50. Siderastrea siderea - tentacular arrangement 79 51. S. siderea - collection detritus 80 52. S. siderea - mucus strand feeding 80 53. S. siderea - tentacu1ar feeding 81 54. ~. siderea - excretion of fecal pellet 81 55. S. radians - ciliary currents and tentacular arrangement 83 56. S. radians - ingestion of organic particles 83 57. Agaricia agaricites - fully expanded 85 58. A. agaricites - 'sweeper tentacles' 86 59. A. agaricites - mucus strand feeding 86 60. A. lamarcki - fully expanded soft tissue 88 61. Helioseris cuculata - portion of colony 90 62. ~ cuculata - ciliary currents 91 vi Figure 63. wycetophy11ia danaana - expanded co1ony with mucus strings Page 93 64. ~etophy11ia sp. - fu11y expanded 93 65. M. ferox - fu11y expanded 95 66. Montastrea annu1aris - fu11y expanded 98 67. M. annu1aris - po1yps in different postures 98 68. Acropora pa1mata - expanded apical polyps 100 69. A. pa1mata - expanded po1yps showing tentacu1ar arrangement 100 70. A. cervicornis - fu11y expanded 102 71. Dendrogyra cy1indrus - fu11y expanded 105 72. Meandrina lliE:!mdrites, f. meandrites, f. danae - fu11y expanded 108 73. M. meandrites - partia11y expanded 108 74. M. meandrites , f. danae - expanded soft tissue 109 75. M. meandrites - mucus string feeding 109 vii N Bellairs Site 1. ---~,~. Site 2.---f Bath -----Site 3, Bridgetown 5 miles Figure 1. Map of Barbados showing location of reefs and study sites . ... Active1y growing reef. 1 INTRODUC TION Unti1 recent1y reef cora1s were regarded as being primari1y carnivores feeding on zoop1ankton (Yonge, 1940). However, single ce11ed a1gae, the zooxanthe11ae present in the endoderm of a11 reef­ building cora1s (Yonge, 1963), are a1so being considered as an important source of nutrition (Franzisket, 1969; Johannes, Co1es and Kuenze1, 1970). It is genera11y assumed that the zooxanthe11ae and the coral form a symbiotic re1ationship. The princip1e photosynthetic product re1eased by the symbiotic a1gae after isolation from hosts is a soluble carbohydrate. "It is 1ike1y that glycero1 is the carbohydrate form trans10cated in associations invo1ving zooxanthe11ae, since the rate of 1iberation of glycero1 'in vitro' is stimu1ated by the presence of some compone~~ of the host tissue and in the intact associations, such as cora1s, the animal tissues are rich in 1abe11ed glycero1 derivatives, such as lipid • • ." (Smith et al., 1969, page 27). In genera1, the detai1s and the biochemica1 significance of the coe1enterate-zooxanthe11ae association is uncertain. There have been, however, assumptions concerning the genera1 metabo1ic characteristics. Geddes (1882) suggested that the uptake of carbon dioxide and the production of oxygen during the photosynthesis wou1d faci1itate the anima1's respiration and gas exchange. The assimilation by the a1gae of inorganic waste products of the host was postu1ated by Yonge and Nicho11s (1931). The 1ink has a1so been considered to encompass the incorp9ration of photosynthetic materia1 into the organic matrix of the animal (Muscatine and 2 Rand, 1958). The presence of zooxanthellae in the corals has been demonstrated to increase the rate of calcification (Goreau, 1959; Goreau and Goreau, 1959). Yonge (1963) postulated that the algae remove excretory waste such as ammonia and phosphates. It was concluded by Smith ~ al. (1965, page 33) that "thesE: interactions . undoubtedly take place to some extent in some associations but as yet there is little direct evidence that any of them are essential to the host." Recent speculations about other possible food sources for corals concerns suspended organic matter, organic aggregates, and dissolved substances circulating in the boundary water of the reef (Goreau et al., 1971). Marshall (1965) found that there was much fine organic material in the water not collected by fine plankton nets. Large amounts of suspended calcareous material are formed by coral-browsing acanthurid and scarid fish (Bardach, 1961). Surge currents and wave turbulence also stir up the leptopel from the bottom sediment, making it available to the benthonic fauna. Baylor and Sutcliffe (1963) have shown that colloidal and dissolved organic mattet' may aggregate into large particles on the surface of bubbles stirred up by the surge. They have suggested that this is a possible source of nutrition for intertidal filter feeders and copepods. Several small organic molecules of biological significance, such as glucose and amine acids, have also been found to be removed from dilute solutions by the coral Fungia scutaria (Stephens, 1962). Bacteria function primarily as nutrient regeneration agents in the sea, because they possess the ability to convert dissolved organic matter into cell substances and to chemo-synthesize protoplasm
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Regional Studies in Marine Science Reef Condition and Protection Of
    Regional Studies in Marine Science 32 (2019) 100893 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Regional Studies in Marine Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rsma Reef condition and protection of coral diversity and evolutionary history in the marine protected areas of Southeastern Dominican Republic ∗ Camilo Cortés-Useche a,b, , Aarón Israel Muñiz-Castillo a, Johanna Calle-Triviño a,b, Roshni Yathiraj c, Jesús Ernesto Arias-González a a Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I.P.N., Unidad Mérida B.P. 73 CORDEMEX, C.P. 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico b Fundación Dominicana de Estudios Marinos FUNDEMAR, Bayahibe, Dominican Republic c ReefWatch Marine Conservation, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050, India article info a b s t r a c t Article history: Changes in structure and function of coral reefs are increasingly significant and few sites in the Received 18 February 2019 Caribbean can tolerate local and global stress factors. Therefore, we assessed coral reef condition Received in revised form 20 September 2019 indicators in reefs within and outside of MPAs in the southeastern Dominican Republic, considering Accepted 15 October 2019 benthic cover as well as the composition, diversity, recruitment, mortality, bleaching, the conservation Available online 18 October 2019 status and evolutionary distinctiveness of coral species. In general, we found that reef condition Keywords: indicators (coral and benthic cover, recruitment, bleaching, and mortality) within the MPAs showed Coral reefs better conditions than in the unprotected area (Boca Chica). Although the comparison between the Caribbean Boca Chica area and the MPAs may present some spatial imbalance, these zones were chosen for Biodiversity the purpose of making a comparison with a previous baseline presented.
    [Show full text]
  • Growth and Survivorship of Scleractinian Coral Transplants And
    Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Oceanography Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences Speeches, Lectures 2006 Growth and Survivorship of Scleractinian Coral Transplants and the Effectiveness of Plugging Core Holes in Transplant Donor Colonies Elizabeth Glynn Fahy Nova Southeastern University Richard E. Dodge Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] Daniel P. Fahy Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] T. Patrick Quinn Nova Southeastern University David S. Gilliam Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facpresentations Part of the Marine Biology Commons, and the Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons NSUWorks Citation Fahy, Elizabeth Glynn; Dodge, Richard E.; Fahy, Daniel P.; Quinn, T. Patrick; Gilliam, David S.; and Spieler, Richard E., "Growth and Survivorship of Scleractinian Coral Transplants and the Effectiveness of Plugging Core Holes in Transplant Donor Colonies" (2006). Oceanography Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures. Paper 44. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facpresentations/44 This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Oceanography Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Elizabeth Glynn Fahy, Richard E. Dodge, Daniel P. Fahy, T. Patrick Quinn, David S. Gilliam, and Richard E. Spieler This conference proceeding is available at NSUWorks: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facpresentations/44 Growth and survivorship of scleractinian coral transplants and the effectiveness of plugging core holes in transplant donor colonies Elizabeth Glynn FAHY*, Richard E.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessing the Effectiveness of Two Intervention Methods for Stony Coral
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Assessing the efectiveness of two intervention methods for stony coral tissue loss disease on Montastraea cavernosa Erin N. Shilling 1*, Ian R. Combs 1,2 & Joshua D. Voss 1* Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was frst observed in Florida in 2014 and has since spread to multiple coral reefs across the wider Caribbean. The northern section of Florida’s Coral Reef has been heavily impacted by this outbreak, with some reefs experiencing as much as a 60% loss of living coral tissue area. We experimentally assessed the efectiveness of two intervention treatments on SCTLD-afected Montastraea cavernosa colonies in situ. Colonies were tagged and divided into three treatment groups: (1) chlorinated epoxy, (2) amoxicillin combined with CoreRx/Ocean Alchemists Base 2B, and (3) untreated controls. The experimental colonies were monitored periodically over 11 months to assess treatment efectiveness by tracking lesion development and overall disease status. The Base 2B plus amoxicillin treatment had a 95% success rate at healing individual disease lesions but did not necessarily prevent treated colonies from developing new lesions over time. Chlorinated epoxy treatments were not signifcantly diferent from untreated control colonies, suggesting that chlorinated epoxy treatments are an inefective intervention technique for SCTLD. The results of this experiment expand management options during coral disease outbreaks and contribute to overall knowledge regarding coral health and disease. Coral reefs face many threats, including, but not limited to, warming ocean temperatures, overfshing, increased nutrient and plastic pollution, hurricanes, ocean acidifcation, and disease outbreaks 1–6. Coral diseases are com- plex, involving both pathogenic agents and coral immune responses.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rapid Spread of the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Outbreak in the Mexican Caribbean
    A rapid spread of the stony coral tissue loss disease outbreak in the Mexican Caribbean Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, Nuria Estrada-Saldívar, Esmeralda Pérez-Cervantes, Ana Molina-Hernández and Francisco J. González-Barrios Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico ABSTRACT Caribbean reef corals have experienced unprecedented declines from climate change, anthropogenic stressors and infectious diseases in recent decades. Since 2014, a highly lethal, new disease, called stony coral tissue loss disease, has impacted many reef-coral species in Florida. During the summer of 2018, we noticed an anomalously high disease prevalence affecting different coral species in the northern portion of the Mexican Caribbean. We assessed the severity of this outbreak in 2018/2019 using the AGRRA coral protocol to survey 82 reef sites across the Mexican Caribbean. Then, using a subset of 14 sites, we detailed information from before the outbreak (2016/2017) to explore the consequences of the disease on the condition and composition of coral communities. Our findings show that the disease outbreak has already spread across the entire region by affecting similar species (with similar disease patterns) to those previously described for Florida. However, we observed a great variability in prevalence and tissue mortality that was not attributable to any geographical gradient. Using long-term data, we determined that there is no evidence of such high coral disease prevalence anywhere in the region before 2018, which suggests that the entire Mexican Caribbean was afflicted by the disease within a few months.
    [Show full text]
  • Protected Species Order 2015
    Protected Species Order 2015 August 2015 GOVERNMENT OF BERMUDA MINISTRY OF HEALTH, SENIORS AND ENVIRONMENT Department of Conservation Services Protected Species Order 2015 – Protected Species Act 2003 2015 Bermuda and the surrounding reef platform, 1998 Bermuda and the surrounding reef platform, 1998 Protected Species Order 2015 – Protected Species Act 2003 Table of Contents 1.0. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Purpose of legislation ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Goal ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2 How species are nominated ............................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Levels of protection for protected species ......................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to the Identification of the Common Corals of St. Croix
    A Guide to the Identification of the Common Corals of St. Croix Thomas Suchanek Department of Biology University of California Davis, CA Converted to digital format by Thomas F. Barry (NOAA/RSMAS) in 2004. Copy available at the NOAA Miami Regional Library. Minor editorial changes may have been made. Guide to the Common Corals of St. Croix 197 A Guide to the Identification of the Common Corals of St. Croix Thomas Suchanek Dept. of Biology University of California Davis, CA INTRODUCTION This guide was designed as an aid in identifying both live and dead corals from St. Croix which form hard, calcium carbonate skeletons. This encompasses representatives both from the Class Anthozoa (the true or scleractinian corals) and from the Class Hydrozoa (hydrocorals). Representatives from the third class of Cnidaria, the Scyphozoa, produce no calcium carbonate skeletons and are not discussed. Of the 60 or so species of "stony" corals found in the western Atlantic region, this guide focuses on 37 species which are found relatively commonly on St. Croix. Other representatives which may be common in other locations such as St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica or Florida, but are not common on St. Croix, have not been included. Various references listed at the end of the text include many of those other species. The guide is arranged in two sections. First is a descriptive section including taxonomic and natural history information on each species represented. Following that section is a series of plates which depict three conditions for each species. First is a habitat photo, as the coral colony would appear to a swimmer or diver approaching it in the field.
    [Show full text]
  • Deep Neural Network Recognition of Shallow Water Corals in the Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba) Alina Raphael1*, Zvy Dubinsky1, David Iluz1,3, Jennifer I
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Deep neural network recognition of shallow water corals in the Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba) Alina Raphael1*, Zvy Dubinsky1, David Iluz1,3, Jennifer I. C. Benichou1 & Nathan S. Netanyahu2 We describe the application of the computerized deep learning methodology to the recognition of corals in a shallow reef in the Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea. This project is aimed at applying deep neural network analysis, based on thousands of underwater images, to the automatic recognition of some common species among the 100 species reported to be found in the Eilat coral reefs. This is a challenging task, since even in the same colony, corals exhibit signifcant within-species morphological variability, in terms of age, depth, current, light, geographic location, and inter- specifc competition. Since deep learning procedures are based on photographic images, the task is further challenged by image quality, distance from the object, angle of view, and light conditions. We produced a large dataset of over 5,000 coral images that were classifed into 11 species in the present automated deep learning classifcation scheme. We demonstrate the efciency and reliability of the method, as compared to painstaking manual classifcation. Specifcally, we demonstrated that this method is readily adaptable to include additional species, thereby providing an excellent tool for future studies in the region, that would allow for real time monitoring the detrimental efects of global climate change and anthropogenic impacts on the coral reefs of the Gulf of Eilat and elsewhere, and that would help assess the success of various bioremediation eforts. One of the major challenges in the feld of contemporary ecology is the documentation of ecosystem change over time.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Eustatius GCRMN 2017 Report (PDF)
    ST. EUSTATIUS Prepared by: FINAL REPORT Kimani Kitson-Walters PhD (pending) Data Monitoring Officer 2017 Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality /Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute L. E. Saddlerweg No 5 Oranjestad St. Eustatius, Caribbean Netherlands Email: [email protected] Table of Contents List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................... 2 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 3 2. METHODS ............................................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Abundance and biomass of reef fish taxa ..................................................................................... 4 2.2 Relative cover of reef-building organisms (corals) and their dominant competitors .................. 4 2.3 Health assessment of reef-building corals .................................................................................... 5 2.4 Recruitment of reef-building corals .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Coral of Opportunity Survivorship and the Use of Coral Nurseries in Coral Reef Restoration Jamie A
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NSU Works Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Oceanography Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences Speeches, Lectures 2006 Coral of Opportunity Survivorship and the Use of Coral Nurseries in Coral Reef Restoration Jamie A. Monty Nova Southeastern University David S. Gilliam Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] Kenneth Banks Natural Resources Planning & Management Division, Broward County, [email protected] David K. Stout Natural Resources Planning & Management Division, Broward County Richard E. Dodge Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facpresentations Part of the Marine Biology Commons, and the Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons NSUWorks Citation Monty, Jamie A.; Gilliam, David S.; Banks, Kenneth; Stout, David K.; and Dodge, Richard E., "Coral of Opportunity Survivorship and the Use of Coral Nurseries in Coral Reef Restoration" (2006). Oceanography Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures. Paper 31. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facpresentations/31 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Oceanography Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Coral of opportunity survivorship and the use of coral nurseries in coral reef restoration Jamie A. MONTY a, David S. GILLIAM a*, Kenneth W. BANKS b, David K. STOUT b, and Richard E. DODGE a aNational Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, Florida, 33004, U.S.A.
    [Show full text]
  • Updates on the Coral Disease Outbreak Prepared for the US EPA Water Quality Protection Program Steering Committee Meeting May 22Nd, 2018
    Updates on the Coral Disease Outbreak Prepared for the US EPA Water Quality Protection Program Steering Committee Meeting May 22nd, 2018 Rob Ruzicka; Mike Colella; Lindsay Huebner; Ananda Ellis; Katy Cummings; Tiffany Boisvert; Jennifer Stein; Nate Berkebile; Stephanie Schopmeyer CREMP is funded by US EPA Water Quality Protection Program Federal Award No. X7-95447709 Diploria labyrinthiformis Montastraea cavernosa Pseudodiploria strigosa Dichocoenia stokesii Meandrina Meandrites Siderastrea siderea Photos: Brian Reckenbeil, FWC, Upper Keys 2018 2017 2016 CREMP Coral Disease Prevalence 2011–2017 Upper FL Keys Year CNAT DLAB DSTO MCAV MMEA PSTR SSID ORBI Total 2011 0.0 11.1 7.4 0.0 0.0 9.1 6.2 1.2 3.4 2012 0.0 0.0 3.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 6.5 2.5 2.9 2013 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.7 0.0 0.0 3.4 1.4 1.4 2014 0.0 0.0 2.9 3.1 0.0 16.7 13.5 3.2 5.7 2015 0.0 0.0 2.9 1.4 0.0 0.0 14.2 4.1 6.1 2016 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.6 0.0 7.1 4.9 9.7 3.8 2017 50.0 7.1 20.0 10.5 0.0 50.0 22.3 19.7 10.7 • N = 14 sites in the Upper Keys; data pooled for all sites, • Prevalence = Percentage of all colonies • Lesion causing agents include: White Plague, Dark Spots, Black Band Species Specific &Total Coral Abundance 2011–2017 Upper FL Keys Year CNAT DLAB DSTO MCAV MMEA PSTR SSID ORBI Total 2011 13 9 27 77 7 11 505 82 2078 2012 6 8 33 81 9 15 583 79 2395 2013 10 11 32 81 9 13 601 72 2282 2014 8 11 34 64 10 12 543 62 2132 2015 8 11 35 70 11 15 579 73 2097 2016 3 13 33 76 10 14 650 62 2132 2017 2 14 10 38 0 6 560 66 1834 • N = 12 sites; data pooled for all sites • Total No.
    [Show full text]
  • Barcoding Corals: Limited by Interspecific Divergence, Not Intraspecific Variation
    Molecular Ecology Resources (2008) 8, 247–255 doi: 10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.01996.x DNABlackwell Publishing Ltd BARCODING Barcoding corals: limited by interspecific divergence, not intraspecific variation T. L. SHEARER* and M. A. COFFROTH† *School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Dr., Atlanta, GA 30332-0230, USA, †Department of Geology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 109 Cooke Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA Abstract The expanding use of DNA barcoding as a tool to identify species and assess biodiversity has recently attracted much attention. An attractive aspect of a barcoding method to iden- tify scleractinian species is that it can be utilized on any life stage (larva, juvenile or adult) and is not influenced by phenotypic plasticity unlike morphological methods of species identification. It has been unclear whether the standard DNA barcoding system, based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI), is suitable for species identification of scleractinian corals. Levels of intra- and interspecific genetic variation of the scleractinian COI gene were investigated to determine whether threshold values could be implemented to discriminate conspecifics from other taxa. Overlap between intraspecific variation and interspecific diver- gence due to low genetic divergence among species (0% in many cases), rather than high levels of intraspecific variation, resulted in the inability to establish appropriate threshold values specific for scleractinians; thus, it was impossible to discern most scleractinian species using this gene. Keywords: COI, DNA barcoding, interspecific divergence, intraspecific variation, scleractinian coral, species identification Received 24 January 2007; revision accepted 15 August 2007 DNA barcoding has become an attractive, yet controversial et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Scleractinian Coral Diseases in Dominica, West Indies: Distribution, Infection Patterns and Contribution to Coral Tissue Mortality
    Rev. Biol. Trop., 51, Supl. 4: 25-38, 2003 www.rbt.ac.cr, www.ucr.ac.cr Three scleractinian coral diseases in Dominica, West Indies: distribution, infection patterns and contribution to coral tissue mortality Jill L. Borger 1,2 1 Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science. University of Miami. Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries, 4600 Rickenbacker Cswy., Miami, FL 33149. Fax: (305) 361-4600. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Institutes for Tropical Marine Ecology, PO Box 944, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica. West Indies. E-mail: [email protected] (Received 24-IX-01. Corrected 21-X-02. Accepted 22-XI-02) Abstract: Coral diseases have been documented in many areas of the Caribbean, but studies in the eastern Caribbean region have been lacking. The prevalence, distribution patterns and contribution to the mortality of coral tissue by black band disease (BBD), white plague (WP) and dark spots disease (DSD) were examined at five reef sites along the west coast of Dominica. 185 of the 325 diseased colonies recorded between March and August 2000, in a survey area of 5884 m2, were WP. This disease contributed to 89% of the total 4.08 m2 of tissue mortality caused by diseases during the survey period. WP also affected the largest average tissue surface area (relative to colony size) per colony and exhibited the largest average tissue loss per infection when compared to BBD and DSD. The species most susceptible to WP and BBD in Dominica differed from most other described Caribbean locations with Siderastrea siderea being most susceptible. S. siderea was also the only species noted to be susceptible to DSD.
    [Show full text]