Coral tissue mortality of the coral Cladocora caespitosa caused by gastropod Coralliophila meyendorffi in the Mljet National Park (eastern Adriatic Sea)

Abstract

The corallivorous gastropod Coralliophila meyendorffi (family Coralliophilidae) is a well-known predator of the coral Cladocora caespitosa, particularly in the eastern Adriatic Sea, where population outbreaks can drastically reduce coral cover. Coralliophila meyendorffi ranges in size from 5 to 40 mm in shell total length, and smaller specimens are often found living with the coral C. caespitosa. Specimens of C. meyendorffi feed exclusively on live coral tissue, stripping it from the calcium carbonate skeleton. Recent outbreaks of the gastropod C. meyendorffi have caused considerable damage on a C. caespitosa bank in Veliko Jezero (the Mljet National Park, eastern Adriatic Sea). The bank occurs at depths between 6 and 18 m, covering a 65 m2 area. During summer of 2010, a substantial outbreak affected about 5%t of the coral colonies. The gastropods were highly aggregated in sheltered areas of the coral bank (up to 41 specimens/dm2) with smaller clusters (from 8 to 12 specimens/dm2) on coral colonies that were influenced by strong bottom currents (up to 1.23 ms−1).

Correlation between pollution and decline of Scleractinian Cladocora caespitosa (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Gulf of Gabes

“…C. caespitosa is a species well adapted to the seasonal seawater temperature fluctuation in Mediterranean Sea (Kružić et al, 2013). However, C. caespitosa cannot well resist to an important increase of seawater temperature.…”

“…Another important mass mortality event happened during the summer 2003 where C. caespitosa suffered of extensive tissue losses due to an exceptional warming episode (Garrabou et al, 2009; Kersting et al, 2013a). Several other mass mortality events happened afterwards as e.g., in the eastern Adriatic Sea in 2010 (Kružić et al, 2013) or in summer-autumn 2012 in the Levantine Sea (Cyprus) (Jiménez et al, 2014). Additionally, Kersting et al (2013a) observed several mass mortalities of C. caespitosa in the Columbretes Islands (north-western Mediterranean, Spain) from 2002 to 2012 due to water thermal anomalies.…”

“…Live coral cover of Cladocora caespitosa in the Mediterranean Sea fluctuated in the last decade. Since 1999, this coral was exposed to several mass mortalities due to the warming events (Garrabou et al, 2009; Jiménez et al, 2014; Kersting et al, 2013a; Kružić et al, 2013; Perez et al, 2000; Rodolfo-Metalpa et al, 2005) and declined to 55% in some parts of the Mediterranean Sea (Casado-Amezúa et al, 2015). In addition to warming events, competition with invasive algae likely contributed to the mortality of this coral species (Kersting et al, 2015).…”

“…2) (Casado-Amezúa et al, 2011; Casado-Amezúa et al, 2014; Kersting, 2013; Kersting et al, 2013a; Kersting et al, 2013b; Kersting et al, 2014a; Kersting et al, 2014b; Kersting et al, 2015; Kersting et al, 2016; Kružić and Benkovic, 2008; Kružić and Požar-Domac, 2003; Kružić and Požar-Domac, 2007; Kružić et al, 2012; Kružić et al, 2013). Some colonies in the Eastern part of the Adriatic Sea are particularly threatened by anthropogenic activities such as e.g., tuna farming (Kružić and Požar-Domac, 2007).…”

Spatio-temporal macrofaunal assemblages associated with the endangered orange coral Astroides calycularis (Scleractinia: Dendrophylliidae)

“…In the Mediterranean Sea, Cladocora caespitosa (a shallow-water zooxanthellate scleractinian coral), Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata (a deep-water azooxanthellate scleractinian corals) are recognized as the main bioconstructors (see Kružic 2014). The fauna associated with these species has been the subject of some research (Koukouras et al 1998, Antoniadou & Chintiroglou 2010, Mastrototaro et al 2010, Calcinai et al 2013, Kružic et al 2013; however, none of these studies have assessed the spatiotemporal variability of the macro faunal assemblages associated with temperate corals.…”