Sexual reproduction and early life‐history traits of the Mediterranean soft coral <i>Alcyonium acaule</i>

Teixidó, Núria; Bensoussan, Nathaniel; Gori, Andrea; Fiorillo, Ida; Viladrich, Núria

doi:10.1111/maec.12255

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 65 publications

(90 reference statements)

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“…The size of octocorals has been shown to influence fecundity in corals. Corals generally reach sexual maturity after they get to a certain size, and large colonies tend to have a higher reproductive output than small colonies (Coma et al, 1995;Page and Lasker, 2012;Teixidó et al, 2016). Even though no data are available on the effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coral reproduction, the decrease in coral size at MC294 suggests that the fecundity of impacted corals might have been affected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In situ growth of deep-sea octocorals after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Girard

Cruz

Glickman

et al. 2019

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Although the role of deep-sea corals in supporting biodiversity is well accepted, their ability to recover from anthropogenic impacts is still poorly understood. An important component of recovery is the capacity of corals to grow back after damage. Here we used data collected as part of an image-based long-term monitoring program that started in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to develop a non-destructive method to measure in situ growth rates of Paramuricea spp. corals and characterize the impact of the spill on growth. About 200 individual coral colonies were imaged every year between 2011 and 2017 at five sites (three that were impacted by the spill and two that were not). Images were then used to test different methods for measuring growth. The most effective method was employed to estimate baseline growth rates, characterize growth patterns, estimate the age of every colony, and determine the effects of impact and coral size on growth. Overall growth rates were variable but low, with average annual growth rates per site ranging from 0.14 to 2.5 cm/year/colony. Based on coral size and growth rates, some colonies are estimated to be over two thousand years old. While coral size did not have an influence on growth, the initial level of total impact in 2011 had a significant positive effect on the proportion of new growth after 2014. However, growth was not sufficient to compensate for branch loss at one of the impacted sites where corals are expected to take an average of 50 years to grow back to their original size. The non-destructive method we developed could be used to estimate the in situ growth rates on any planar octocoral, and would be particularly useful to follow the recovery of corals after impact or assess the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In situ growth of deep-sea octocorals after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Girard

Cruz

Glickman

et al. 2019

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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“…Before summer aestivation, organisms reproduce and need a significant quantity of energy to compensate for the gonadal release and the reduced food availability (Coma et al, 2000;. Indeed, A. acaule is gonochoristic and a surface brooder that retains eggs on the external surface of female colonies with mucous strings (Garrabou, 1999;Fiorillo et al, 2013;Teixidó et al, 2016), spawning once a year in late spring-early summer (Fiorillo et al, 2013) in coincidence with its higher lipid contents. Rapidly increasing solar irradiance during the spring has been suggested as the trigger for oocyte maturation and vitellogenesis, nevertheless other underlying mechanisms could be playing a key role (Fiorillo et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal trends of the polyp expansion and nutritional condition of Alcyonium acaule (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea)

Rizzo

Fiorillo

Rossi

2021

PeerJ

Self Cite

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The ecological physiology of anthozoans, as well as their resistance to stressors, are strongly influenced by environmental factors and the availability of resources. The energy budget of anthozoans can vary seasonally in order to find an equilibrium between the available resources and respiration, polyp activity, growth, and reproduction processes. The variation in the biochemical composition of the animal tissues in these organisms results from a combination of the productivity processes of the water column coupled with the reproductive effort and potential starvation periods of the anthozoans. Here, the seasonal variation in the polyp activity of a slow-growing passive suspension feeder, the octocoral Alcyonium acaule, as well as their carbohydrate, protein and lipid contents, was investigated in a warm temperate environment using in-situ observations and biochemical analyses. Polyp activity exhibited a significant variability that was moderately dependent on season, while an aestivation phenomenon in A. acaule (i.e., a resting period in which the anthozoan is not capable of any polyp activity) during the warmer months is clearly observed. Carbohydrate concentrations in the coral species showed a significant increase in the late winter and spring seasons, and the lipid content increased during the spring. A higher abundance of lipids and carbohydrates coincided with a higher primary productivity in the water column, as well as with the octocoral reproduction period. In late autumn, there was a depletion of these biomolecules, with protein levels exhibiting great variability across sampling times. Complex alterations driven by climate change could affect the energy fluxes that depend on the dead or alive particles that are intercepted by marine animal forests. The obtained findings show a food shortage in late summer and autumn of the benthic suspension feeder A. acaule through the integrative descriptors of the ecophysiology of these anthozoans. This research contributes to the knowledge of energy storage capabilities in benthic suspension feeders in general, highlighting the importance of understanding the limits of resistance to starvation periods through these indicators.

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“…Such studies have been mainly concentrated in the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia. Following the review by Kahng et al (2011), researchers have been working to build our understanding of octocoral reproduction (Baran & Baria‐Rodriguez, 2021; Barbosa et al, 2014; Fiorillo et al, 2013; C. G. Gomez, Gonzalez, & Guzman, 2018; Nonaka et al, 2015; Teixido et al, 2016; Wessels, 2016); however, the majority of species remain to be studied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive characteristics and gamete development of the soft coral Sclerophytum cf. heterospiculatum in Okinawa Island, Japan

Jamodiong

Reimer

2023

Invertebrate Biology

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Sexual reproduction data are important to understand how organisms can replenish their populations and proliferate on coral reefs. Despite the importance of such data, the reproductive characteristics of most soft coral species are still unknown. Here, we examined the reproductive strategies of a species from the often‐dominant genus Sclerophytum in a coral reef on subtropical Okinawa Island, Japan. DNA barcoding and histological examinations of the tissues were conducted to confirm colony conspecificity and identify reproductive characteristics, respectively, between March 2020 and March 2021. Results indicated that the studied species, identified as Sclerophytum cf. heterospiculatum, exhibits gonochorism with longer oogenesis and shorter spermatogenesis. Female colonies produced immature oocytes throughout the year, with mature oocytes observed from late July to early September, and thus, extended spawning is likely characteristic of this species. In male colonies, spermatogenesis took place over ~5 months, with spermaries present from April through August. Mature spermaries were noted beginning in July and the inferred peak of sperm release was between late August and early September, which suggests that spermatogenesis duration was ~5 months. The largest mean oocyte and spermary sizes (628.45 ± 61.36 and 240.04 ± 49.49 μm, respectively) were both recorded in August. Gamete spawning presumably occurred during the summer season, which suggests seasonality in reproduction as influenced by changes in seawater temperature. However, the proximate cue for exact dates of spawning could be the lunar period because the inferred release of spawning materials seemed to occur between full moon and last‐quarter moon phases in both the months of August and September. The results of this study represent the first detailed report of reproductive characteristics of the genus Sclerophytum in Japan.

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Sexual reproduction and early life‐history traits of the Mediterranean soft coral Alcyonium acaule

Cited by 8 publications

References 65 publications

In situ growth of deep-sea octocorals after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

In situ growth of deep-sea octocorals after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Seasonal trends of the polyp expansion and nutritional condition of Alcyonium acaule (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea)

Reproductive characteristics and gamete development of the soft coral Sclerophytum cf. heterospiculatum in Okinawa Island, Japan

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