The stony coral Agaricia tenuifolia Dana, 1848 as a new gall crab host (Decapoda: Cryptochiridae)

Moorsel, G.W.N.M. van; Meij, Sancia E. T. van der

doi:10.1590/2358-2936e2018002

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Fungiidae (see Gittenberger et al 2011;Benzoni et al 2012;Hoeksema 2014), in which cryptochirid symbionts have been found in only a limited number of species (Centactis, Cycloseris) or in none at all (Cantharellus, Heliofungia) (van der Meij et al 2015b). The present finding and other recently discovered crab-coral associations (van der Meij , 2017Hoeksema et al 2017c;van Moorsel and van der Meij 2018) suggest that missing host records are partly due to insufficient sampling.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…hosts (Kropp 1989;van der Meij et al 2015; van Tienderen and van der Meij 2017; van Moorsel and van der Meij 2018). We provisionally assumed that it concerned Opecarcinus hypostegus, based on the crab's dwelling as in previous studies (van der Meij et al 2015;Hoeksema et al 2017c;van Moorsel and van der Meij 2018). Agaricia undata was observed and documented at two other sites around Bonaire, but in these cases no associates were found.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 74%

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The scleractinian Agaricia undata as a new host for the coral-gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus at Bonaire, southern Caribbean

García-Hernández

Gier

Moorsel³

et al. 2020

Symbiosis

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The Caribbean scleractinian reef coral Agaricia undata (Agariciidae) is recorded for the first time as a host of the coral-gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus (Cryptochiridae). The identity of the crab was confirmed with the help of DNA barcoding. The association has been documented with photographs taken in situ at 25 m depth and in the laboratory. The predominantly mesophotic depth range of the host species suggests this association to be present also at greater depths. With this record, all seven Agaricia species are now listed as gall-crab hosts, together with the agariciid Helioseris cucullata. Within the phylogeny of Agariciidae, Helioseris is not closely related to Agaricia. Therefore, the association between Caribbean agariciids and their gallcrab symbionts may either have originated early in their shared evolutionary history or later as a result of host range expansion. New information on coral-associated fauna, such as what is presented here, leads to a better insight on the diversity, evolution, and ecology of coral reef biota, particularly in the Caribbean, where cryptochirids have rarely been studied.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 74%

The scleractinian Agaricia undata as a new host for the coral-gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus at Bonaire, southern Caribbean

García-Hernández

Gier

Moorsel³

et al. 2020

Symbiosis

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Diversity and distribution of coral gall crabs associated with Red Sea mesophotic corals

Vimercati,

Terraneo,

Marchese

et al. 2024

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Coral-dwelling gall crabs (Cryptochiridae) live in an obligate symbiosis with reef-building corals from shallow to deep waters. In particular, crabs of the genus Opecarcinus are known to occur across the tropical belt in association with the scleractinian family Agariciidae, down to a depth of 89 m. The Red Sea is a semi-enclosed basin that has long been recognized as a region of high marine biodiversity and endemism, with more than 230 decapod species recorded so far. There, nine Opecarcinus species are recorded from shallow and mesophotic corals. However, the occurrence of Opecarcinus below 30 m depth is documented only in the Saudi Arabian coast of the Northern Red Sea, and the rest of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea has remained unstudied. In this work, we assess the diversity and distribution of Opecarcinus from the mesophotic waters of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea. Through Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Submarines explorations, we collected 10 gall crab specimens associated with Agariciidae corals at mesophotic depths between 47 and 89 m. Two mitochondrial and one nuclear markers were used to obtain crab phylogenetic tree showing that three of the Opecarcinus species known from Red Sea shallow-water corals can also live at mesophotic depths. This is the first assessment of the depth distribution of the genus Opecarcinus in the Red Sea. It provides further evidence of the depth range adaptability of the Opecarcinus-Agariciidae association and highlights the need for a more in-depth investigation of the largely overlooked mesophotic coral-associated fauna.

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The stony coral Agaricia tenuifolia Dana, 1848 as a new gall crab host (Decapoda: Cryptochiridae)

Cited by 2 publications

References 6 publications

The scleractinian Agaricia undata as a new host for the coral-gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus at Bonaire, southern Caribbean

The scleractinian Agaricia undata as a new host for the coral-gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus at Bonaire, southern Caribbean

Diversity and distribution of coral gall crabs associated with Red Sea mesophotic corals

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