Morphological plasticity allows coral to actively overgrow the aggressive sponge Terpios hoshinota (Mauritius, Southwestern Indian Ocean)

Elliott, Jennifer; Patterson, Mark; Vitry, Eugene; Summers, Natalie; Miternique, Céline

doi:10.1007/s12526-015-0370-4

Cited by 29 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Coral reefs of Gulf of Mannar act as a hub for reef dependant fishery and provide livelihood to thousands of local fishermen directly. The coral-killing sponge, Terpios hoshinota has been reported to die after the death of covered coral colonies and if no other live coral substrate is available (see Elliott et al 2015). In Yemen, Benzoni et al (2008) noted that C. (M.) aceratoobtusa grows progressively over the coral, but it faded, leaving the dead coral behind.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The coral-killing red sponge Clathria (Microciona) aceratoobtusa (Porifera: Demosponigiae) invades various coral communities of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, southeast India

Ashok

Calcinai

Edward

2020

The European Zoological Journal

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Accounts of the encrusting, coral-killing sponges are increasing at an alarming rate. The present paper details about a thinly encrusting red sponge Clathria (Microciona) aceratoobtusa (Carter, 1887) which is invasive or locally spreading species and create deleterious outbreaks on Gulf of Mannar coral reefs. Earlier it has also been recorded from Yemen, but not taxonomically identified. This sponge is regarded as an aggressive space-competitor locally overgrowing and killing corals, mostly belonging to the coral genera such as Porites, Acropora, Montipora, Favia and Turbinaria. We observed that Turbinaria colonies were the substrate more preferred by the sponge than other coral colonies in the entire study site. The present observation analyses detail the taxonomical and ecological data of Clathria (M.) aceratoobtusa with a comprehensive review of its ecological preference.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The coral-killing red sponge Clathria (Microciona) aceratoobtusa (Porifera: Demosponigiae) invades various coral communities of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, southeast India

Ashok

Calcinai

Edward

2020

The European Zoological Journal

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“…Little is known about differences in possible biological defense mechanisms among coral species. Such mechanisms might explain why some corals are more hospitable hosts than others, or behave differently (adaptive, aggressive, evasive, submissive, or neutrally tolerant) when they come in contact with other organisms (Chadwick and Morrow 2011;Hoeksema and De Voogd 2012;Elliott et al 2016;García-Hernández et al 2016;Hammerman and García-Hernández 2016). Other associations may simply occur at greater depths and may require other methods than use of SCUBA for their discovery or for examination of their lower depth ranges (e.g., Van der Meij et al 2015a).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helioseris cucullata as a host coral at St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean

et al. 2016

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In order to demonstrate how scleractinian corals contribute to marine biodiversity by their host function, information on associated fauna was gathered during a biological survey at St. Eustatius, eastern Caribbean. This knowledge is especially urgent for a host coral such as Helioseris cucullata (Agariciidae), which has undergone strong declines in abundance at various Caribbean localities and has a poor record of associated fauna. New records of H. cucullata as host are presented for the coral gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus (Cryptochiridae), the Christmas tree worm Spirobranchus giganteus (Serpulidae) and an unidentified serpulid tube worm of the genus Vermiliopsis. A second association record is reported for the coral barnacle Megatrema madreporarum (Pyrgomatidae). Coral-associated copepods were not found on H. cucullata despite a search for these animals. The new records were compared with previous records of other host coral species that showed elements of the same associated fauna. The present findings indicate that new discoveries concerning Caribbean coral reef biodiversity can still be made during field expeditions by targeting the assemblages of associated fauna of specific benthic host species.

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“…In recent decades, outbreak of coral killing sponge, Terpios hoshinota is frequently expanding its geographical range and is emerging as a threat to one of the most important coral reef ecosystems worldwide (30 to 80% mortality in coral reefs of various geographical locations) [ 1 – 10 ]. This is the first study to report evidence of rapid coral mortality in Palk Bay caused by Terpios invasion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the first report on Terpios by Bryan in 1973 [ 1 ], the invasion has been theorized to be expanding its geographical range [ 2 ] and has caused mortality in many coral genera [ 3 , 4 ]. The geographical locations where such invasions have occurred include American Samoa, the Philippines, Japan [ 2 ], Taiwan [ 4 , 5 ], the Great Barrier Reef [ 6 ], Indonesia [ 7 ], and recently in Maldives [ 8 ], India [ 9 ] and Mauritius [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term in situ shading effectively mitigates linear progression of coral-killing sponge Terpios hoshinota

et al. 2017

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The coral-killing sponge, Terpios hoshinota is a global invasive species that has conquered coral patches within a short span of time, which has led to a significant decline in living coral cover at various geographical locations. In this study, we surveyed the linear progression and impact of the Terpios invasion on live coral patches along Palk Bay, Indian Ocean, from August 2013 to August 2015. The field inventory revealed an extensive fatality rate of 76% as a result of Terpios outbreak. Experimental findings showed that symbiotic cyanobacteria act as a nutritional factory for the aggressive growth of Terpios. Shading hypothetically impairs the nutritional symbiont of the invasive species: the effect of sunlight on cyanobacterial biomass and its influence on Terpios progression over live coral patches was tested through in situ shading experiments. This study showed that artificial shading with cotton fabric could effectively mitigate sponge growth on live coral without affecting coral homeostasis.

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Morphological plasticity allows coral to actively overgrow the aggressive sponge Terpios hoshinota (Mauritius, Southwestern Indian Ocean)

Cited by 29 publications

References 15 publications

The coral-killing red sponge Clathria (Microciona) aceratoobtusa (Porifera: Demosponigiae) invades various coral communities of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, southeast India

The coral-killing red sponge Clathria (Microciona) aceratoobtusa (Porifera: Demosponigiae) invades various coral communities of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, southeast India

Helioseris cucullata as a host coral at St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean

Short-term in situ shading effectively mitigates linear progression of coral-killing sponge Terpios hoshinota

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