SHORT PAPERS AND NOTES 789 corals. Therefore, some "between experi- III. 1976. Flow-through microcosms for ment" variability is to be expected. This simulation of marine ecosystems: develop- ment and intercomparison of open coast and variation was not severe enough to mask the bay facilities. Naval Undersea Center Tech- trends shown in Figure 1. When data from nical Report TP519. San Diego, Calif. 80 pp. aU experiments were combined, the trend Houck, 1. E., R. W. Buddemeier, S. V. Smith, and with temperature is statistically significant. P. L. Jokiel. 1977. The response of coral growth rate and skeletal strontium content This can survive and grow at tem- to light intensity and water temperature. peratures below the reproductive optimum Proc. Third Int. Symp. Coral Reefs. Uni- (Jokiel and Coles, 1977) , but few new versity of Miami, Miami. 2: 425-431. colonies would occur and the coral could be Jokiel, P. L., and S. L. Coles. 1977. Effects of eliminated. Hence these experiments support temperature on the mortality and growth of Hawaiian reef corals. Mar. BioI. 43: 201-208. the observation that temperature might influ- ---, J. E. Maragos, and L. Franzisket. 1978. ence the distribution of corals primarily Coral growth: buoyant weight technique. through control of the reproductive process Pages 529-541 in D. R. Stoddart and R. E. (Yonge, 1940). Johannes, eds. Coral reefs: research methods. UNESCO, Paris, France. Kawaguti, S. 1941. On the physiology of reef ACKNOWLEDGMENTS corals. V. Tropism of coral planulae, con- sidered as a factor of distribution of the This work was partially supported by U.S. En- reefs. Palao Trop. BioI. Stn. Stud. 2: 319- vironmental Protection Agency Grants 18050 DDN 328. and R800906. Contribution No. 549 of the Hawaii Marshall, S. M., and T. A. Stephenson. 1933. Institute of Marine Biology. The breeding of reef . Part I. The corals. Scient. Rep. Gt. Barrier Reef Exped. LITERATURE CITED Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) 3: 219-245. Yonge, C. M. 1940. The biology of reef-build- ing corals. Scient. Rept. Gt. Barrier Reef Abe, N. 1937. Post-larval development of the Exped. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) 1: 353-391. coral Fungia actiniformis var. palawensis Zar, 1. H. 1974. Biostatistical analysis. Pren- Doederlein. Palao Trop. BioI. Stn. Stud. 1: tice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 73-93. 620 pp. Bak, R. 1973. Coral weight increment in situ. A new method to determine coral growth. DATE ACCEPTED: June 13, 1978. Mar. BioI. 20: 45-49. Clausen, C. D., and A. A. Roth. 1975. Effect ADDRESS: Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, of temperature and temperature adaptation P.O. Box 1346, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744. on calcification rate in the hermatypic coral Pocillopora damicomis. Mar. BioI. 33: 93- 100. Duerden, J. E. 1904. The coral Siderastrea radians and its post-larval development. Car- negie Inst. Wash. Pub!. 20. 130 pp. Edmondson, C. H. 1946. Behavior of coral FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF planulae under altered saline and thermal THE CARIBBEAN CORAL conditions. Occ. Pap. Bernice P. Bishop Mus. AREOLATA 18: 283-304. Evans, E. C., III. 1977. Microcosm responses to environmental perturbants. Helgol. wiss. Philip A. Meyers, Judith E. Barak, Meeresunters. 30: 178-191. and Esther C. Peters Glynn, P. W., and R. H. Stewart. 1973. Dis- tribution of coral reefs in the Pearl Islands ABSTRACT-Fatty acid compositions of replicate (Gulf of Panama) in relation to thermal samples of from the Florida conditions. Limnol. Oceanogr. 18: 367-379. Keys have been analyzed to determine the degree Harrigan, J. F. 1972. The planula larva of of intraspecific variability. Variability of acids Pocillopora damicomis: lunar periodicity of swarming and substratum selection behavior. comprising at least 200/0 of the total is not large. Ph.D. Thesis. Univ. of Hawaii. 303 pp. Fatty acids may be useful in comparative studies Henderson, R. S., S. V. Smith, and E. C. Evans, of these and other corals. 790 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCJENCE. VOL. 28, NO.4, 1978

Studies of the chemical composition of fatty acids having chain lengths from 12 to organisms commonly use individual or 26 carbons (Meyers, 1977). Identification pooled samples for analysis. However, in of fatty acid methyl esters was by comparison order to assess the influence of geographic, of retention times to those of an authen- environmental, and taxonomic factors upon tic marine-type polyunsaturated fatty acid this composition, it is important to know the methyl ester mixture (PUFA-I, Supelco, amount of natural intraspecific variability Inc., Bellefonte, Pennsylvania). which may exist in samples from a single Table 1 presents the fatty acid composi- location. tions of the eight subsamples derived from As part of a continuing study of lipids in four colonies of M. areolata. Comparison of corals we have investigated the amount of subsamples decalcified with HCL in columns intraspecific variability in fatty acid compo- I with those decalcified with Cal-Ex in col- sition of the Caribbean rose coral Manicina umns II shows very little compositional dif- areolata (Linnaeus). Whole colonies of this ference in types of fatty acids present, al- hermatypic coral (, , though considerable differences exist in Faviidae) were collected on 4 January 1976 concentrations. These data indicate that from 1.5 m water near Summerland Key, these two decalcification reagents yield simi- Florida (24°40'N, 81°30'W). The samples lar results for lipid analysis. Because 3N were immediately frozen and stored at HCL achieved full carbonate dissolution - 20°C until analysis began on 12 January faster, its use is recommended for future 1976. studies of lipids in corals. These data further Four of the colonies were prepared for indicate that there is very close similarity in total fatty acid analysis by the procedure of total fatty acid compositions of different parts Meyers et a1. (1974) as modified by Meyers of a single M. areolata colony. (1977) . Furthermore, each colony was di- The range in total fatty acid concentration vided into two subsamples to determine the per weight of dry tissue is from 0.5 to 3.7 effect of different decalcification reagents. mgmf gm among the eight subsamples listed One subsamp1e of each pair was decalcified in Table 1. Because there is no systematic with 3N HCL; the other was decalcified with agreement with the method of decalcification, Cal-Ex (Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, Penn- this appears to be due to natural variability. sylvania). After the carbonate skeleton had It is striking how much difference can be been dissolved, freed tissue was isolated by found in subsamples of a single colony, such filtration using solvent-rinsed, pre-weighed as in sample B. If this amount of variation Whatman 541 filters. The combined filters is representative of all hard corals, then and tissues were dried overnight at 60°C, comparison of fatty acid concentrations of weighed to obtain a dry tissue weight, and different corals must be done cautiously. placed in screw-cap tubes for saponification Although derived from four colonies, the of lipid materials with 0.5N methanolic eight subsamples represent separate groups KOH. This was achieved, after an internal of M. areolata polyps. Therefore, the eight quantitative standard of heptadecanoic acid sets of data derived from these subsamples was added, by heating at 100°C for 5 min. were used as discrete data to calculate the Methylation of fatty acids by a method mean fatty acid composition and the relative adapted from that of Metcalfe et a1. (1966) standard deviations given in Table 1. Two and isolation of these methyl esters by thin- acids, palmitic (16:0) and oleic (18:1), layer chromatography was done as described comprise over 60% of the mean composi- by Meyers et a1. (1974). Gas-liquid chro- tion. The coefficients of variation of these matography was performed with DEGS col- major components are 14.8% and 8.5%, umns temperature-programmed from 150- respectively. The mean contribution of the 190°C at 4°f min to allow measurement of third most-abundant component, stearic acid SHORT PAPERS AND NOTES 791

Table 1. Fatty acid weight percent composition of Manicina areolata. Fatty acids designated by car- bon chain length: number of double bonds. I.-sample decalcified with HCL; II-sample decalcified with Cal-Ex (Fisher). Concentrations given in milligrams total acids per gram dry tissue. Coefficients of variation are expressed as percentages.

Sample A Sample B Sample C Sample D Std. Coeff. II II II II Mean Dev. of Var.

Saturated 14:0 2.1 3.3 4.0 4.1 3.7 3.9 3.1 2.9 3.4 0.7 20.1 16:0 40.9 39.2 42.0 42.8 32.0 35.2 29.2 30.9 36.5 5.4 14.8 18:0 15.0 10.2 15.4 14.9 9.2 12.5 12.0 12.8 12.7 2.3 17.9 20:0 3.0 1.7 2.1 2.7 3.9 3.2 4.0 3.5 3.0 0.8 27.7 24:0 0 0 0 0 1.6 1.0 1.5 1.5 0.7 0.8 114.3 Total 61.0 54.4 63.5 64.5 50.4 55.8 49.8 51.6 56.4 5.9 10.5

Monounsaturated 16: 1 1.5 4.6 5.1 4.6 5.5 5.3 4.5 4.4 4.4 1.3 28.4 18: 1 22.9 27.6 23.8 22.1 27.6 25.5 26.6 26.8 25.4 2.2 8.5 20: 1 11.2 10.8 5.8 7.0 10.0 8.2 13.1 12.2 9.8 2.6 26.1 22: 1 3.5 2.4 1.8 1.8 6.3 5.0 5.9 5.0 4.0 1.8 46.1 Total 39.1 45.4 36.5 35.5 49.4 44.0 50.1 48.4 43.6 5.8 13.3 Concn. 3.5 1.9 0.5 2.5 2.1 1.6 2.8 3.7 2.3 1.0 43.5

(18:0), is 12.7%, and its coefficient of vari- ability of total fatty acids within samples of ation is 17.9% of the mean. Other acids, this coral from a single source. whose individual contributions are less than The apparent lack of polyunsaturated fatty 10% to the mean total weight percent com- acids in these samples agrees with other re- position, have coefficients of variation be- ports of low levels or absence of such acids tween 20.1% and 114.3%. The mean sum in stony corals (Pasby, 1965; Meyers et a1., of saturated acids is 56.4%; this has a fairly 1974; Patton et a1., 1977). However, some small coefficient of variation of 10.5%. The corals have been found to contain relatively total of monounsaturated acids also has a large amounts of polyunsaturation (Meyers, fairly small coefficient of variation of 13.3% 1977, Sassen, 1977). It is possible that some of the mean. loss of polyunsaturated acids occurred during Because these fatty acid analyses were oven drying of the coral tissues even though performed with only one type of GLC col- a moderate temperature was chosen to min- umn, the identifications of individual com- imize this possibility. Another process which ponents are tentative. We feel confident could have contributed to a reduction in those acids contributing more than 10% to polyunsaturated acids was the TLC isolation the total composition are correctly identified, of fatty acid methyl esters. Nichaman et a1. but it is possible some of the lesser compo- (1963) have observed losses of polyun- nents represent acids or mixtures of acids saturated acids during TLC visualization whose methyl esters happen to elute at the by iodine vapors, and Schultz and Quinn retention times of the esters of the acids (1977) have determined that 19% of the listed in Table 1. For instance, the com- 22: 6 fatty acid can be lost by this method. ponent identified as 20: 1 may in fact rep- Although iodine was the visualizing agent in resent a mixture of this acid and other acids the present study, exposure to vapors was which co-elute with it on the GLC column kept brief to minimize loss of polyunsatu- used in this study. Despite this possible rated components. Furthermore, the proce- shortcoming, these data provide a valid indi- dure used here has been able to detect cation of the amount of intraspecific vari- substantial amounts of polyunsaturated acids 792 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 28, NO.4, 1978

and hydrocarbons in other samples (Meyers, 1974. A method for analysis of fatty acids 1977). Therefore, while some losses may in coral. Limnol. Oceanogr. 19: 846-848. Nichaman, M. Z., C. C. Sweeley, N. M. Oldham, have been encountered, it is not likely that and R. E. Olson. 1963. Changes in the they would have been complete, and the fatty acid composition during preparative thin- apparent lack of polyunsaturated acids found layer chromatography. 1. Lipid Res. 4: 484- here is probably real. 485. Pasby, B. 1965. A characterization of the lipids Based upon these data, we feel that an acid of the organisms which make up the main comprising more than 20% of the total fatty bulk of a coral reef with particular emphasis acid composition of a coral can be used in on the hydrocarbons. Ph.D. Dissertation, characterizing coral samples. In these sam- Texas A&M. ples of M. areolala, palmitic acid and oleic Patton, J. S., S. Abraham, and A. A. Benson. 1977. Lipogenesis in intact coral and isolated acid can be used, while in the data presented zooxanthellae. Evidence for a light-driven by Meyers et al. (1974) for A. palmata and carbon cycle between symbiont and host. Mar. Millepora sp. from the Caribbean, palmitic BioI. 44: 235-247. acid and stearic acid are major components Sassen, R. 1977. The fate of fatty acids from corals and mangroves in Holocene sediments present in percentages which appear to be of St. Croix: significance with respect to pe- characteristic of each species. The coeffi- troleum genesis. Pages 136-147 in D. L. Tay- cients of variation to be expected in such lor, ed., Proceedings, Third International characterization are 8-15%. In addition, the Coral Reef Symposium. Vol. 2. University of total sums of saturated, monounsaturated, Miami, Miami, Florida. Schultz, D. M., and J. G. Quinn. 1977. Note on and polyunsaturated acids are also useful in the chromatographic analysis of marine poly- this type of biochemical comparison. unsaturated fatty acids. Mar. BioI. 40: 117- This approach can be used to make chemo- 120. taxonomic comparisons of corals of different species and, in view of significant chemical DATE ACCEPTED:June 13, 1978. differences that have been found in gor- ADDRESSES:(P.A.M. and J.E.B.) Department of gonians from different parts of the Caribbean Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, The University (Ciereszko, 1976), to compare samples of of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109; (E.C.P.) the same species of coral from different Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. Pres- locations. ent Address: (J.E.B.) Energy Resources Company, ACKNOWLEDGMENT Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. Contribution Number 241 of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. NOTES ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF LITERATURECITED GURNARD FISHES ( LEPlDOTRIGLA, FAMILY Ciereszko, L. S. 1976. Chemical diversity in TRIGLIDAE) OFF THE NORTHWEST tropical reef octocorals. Pages 297-301 in H. H. Webber and G. D. Ruggieri, eds., Food- COAST OF AFRICA Drugs from the Sea Proceedings 1974. Marine William J. Richards and Vishnu P. Saksena Technology Society, Washington, D.C. Metcalfe, L. D., A. A. Schmitz, and J. R. Pelka. Recently, Maul (1976) repOl;ted on the 1966. Rapid preparation of fatty acid esters from lipids for gas chromatographic analysis. distribution of Lepidotrigla dieuzeidei off Analyt. Chern. 38: 514-515. the coast of Morocco and compared this Meyers, P. A. 1977. Fatty acids and hydro- species with Lepidotrigla carolae. We have carbons of Caribbean corals. Pages 529-536 had opportunity to examine 156 specimens in D. L. Taylor, ed., Proceedings, Third Inter- from nine trawl hauls made by the RjV national Coral Reef Symposium. Vol. 1. Uni- versity of Miami, Miami, Florida. ATLANTIS II off Cape Blanc, northwest Meyers, P. A., J. G. Quinn, and N. Marshall. African coast, results of which are the sub-