Spatial distribution patterns of the soft corals Alcyonium acaule and Alcyonium palmatum in coastal bottoms (Cap de Creus, northwestern Mediterranean Sea)

Ambroso, Stefano; Gori, Andrea; Domínguez-Carrió, Carlos; Gili, Josep María; Berganzo, Elisa; Teixidó, Núria; Greenacre, Michael; Rossi, Sergio

doi:10.1007/s00227-013-2295-4

Cited by 37 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Seabed substrate types were classified based on an adaptation of the Wentworth scale (Wentworth, 1922) made by Santín et al, (2018): sands, cobbles and pebbles, maërl, and outcropping rock. Seabed slope was classified as horizontal (0 -30°), sloping (30 -80°) or vertical (80 -90°) following the methodology described in Ambroso et al (2013). Depth was documented as the time reference of any 0.1 m depth variation.…”

Section: Video Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft corals assemblages in deep environments of the Menorca Channel (Western Mediterranean Sea)

Grinyó

Garriga

Soler-Membrives

et al. 2020

Progress in Oceanography

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Image-based research in mesophotic and deep environments of the Mediterranean Sea has significantly increased during the past decades. So far, this research has been focused on the ecology of key structuring organisms such as scleractinians, antipatharians, gorgonians or large demosponges. However, the ecology of true soft corals has barely been studied and is still in a very preliminary stage. To overcome this situation, soft coral assemblages in shelf and slope environments of the Menorca Channel (Western Mediterranean Sea) have been studied through the quantitative analysis of 85 video transect recorded over 38500 m 2. Highest soft coral diversity was encountered on the shelf edge, resembling deep Mediterranean gorgonian patterns. Three soft coral assemblages, segregated by depth, substrate, and slope were identified: two monospecific ones composed by Nidalia studeri and Alcyonium palmatum, respectively and a multispecific one composed by Paralcyonium spinulosum, Alcyonium sp., Chironephthya mediterranea and Daniela koreni. The evaluated species presented average densities within the same range as other deep Mediterranean anthozoans ranging from 1 to 9 col. •m-2. However, N. studeri and P. spinulosum punctually formed dense monospecific aggregations, reaching maximum densities of 49 col.•m-2 and 60 col.•m-2 respectively. Both species monopolized vast extensions of the continental shelf and shelf edge. The identification and ecological characterization of these assemblages brings new insight about deep Mediterranean anthozoan communities, and provides baseline for future management plans in the study area.

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Section: Video Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft corals assemblages in deep environments of the Menorca Channel (Western Mediterranean Sea)

Grinyó

Garriga

Soler-Membrives

et al. 2020

Progress in Oceanography

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“…We chose the criterion of number of fingers as a measure of size due to the capacity of the species for colony expansion and retraction and because the number of fingers has been shown to be the best proxy for colony size (Garrabou ; Ambroso et al . ). One finger fragment was collected from each sampled colony and immediately fixed in 10% formalin in seawater.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Garrabou ; Ambroso et al . ). It occurs from shallow waters (~10 m) to depths of approximately 90 m (Gili et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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

et al. 2015

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Understanding processes that contribute to a better comprehension of the population dynamics of long-lived species is critical for the maintenance and potential recovery of such species. Despite the abundance of soft corals in Mediterranean rocky reefs, little information exists on their life histories and reproductive patterns. In this study, we assessed the main reproductive characteristics and early life-history traits of the long-lived soft coral Alcyonium acaule. The sex ratio was 1:1; the smallest fertile colonies were one finger in size (2.1 AE 0.6 cm in height), and both colony and polyp fertility increased with colony size. Likewise, the number of eggs and spermary sacs per polyp increased significantly with colony size, whereas the diameter of the female and male sexual products did not. Over 6 years of observations (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012), spawning occurred primarily in July, after the seawater reached 20°C, in a single spawning episode per year. Approximately 80% of female colonies released eggs, which were retained on the surface of the mother colony by mucous strings for up to a few days. High fertilization rates were observed during spawning in 2008 and 2009 (94.9% and 87.0%, respectively). The timing of development was~24 h for the blastulae,~48-72 h for the planulae and 8-22 days for metamorphosis into primary polyps. Survivorship of planulae was relatively high (~50% at 45 days after release), but only 24% of larvae metamorphosed into primary polyps, and their survivorship was moderate after 2 months (65% in 2008 and 74% in 2009). Asexual reproduction was negligible, indicating that sexual reproduction is the main mechanism supporting the maintenance and recovery of populations.

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“…The marine benthic communities have been evaluated from different points of view, which respond to their distribution, interests, or incidental events. The most common assessments are those focused on establishing the community structure and distribution patterns of temperate and boreal zones [28,29], while in the tropical coastal zone are the evaluations focused on determining the response of these communities to changes caused by seasonal fluctuations and/or physicochemical or structural modifications of the environment, by natural or anthropogenic sources [30][31][32]. Precisely, an indicator related to environmental services is biodiversity.…”

Section: Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lagoons Reefs of Alacranes Reef and Chinchorro Bank: Ocean Reef of Mexican Atlantic

Torruco¹,

González-Solis²,

González³

2020

Lagoon Environments Around the World - A Scientific Perspective

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Coral reef lagoons are one of the parts of the reef with the largest biotopes, making it an area with great inequalities. Under this perspective we try to compare the lagoons of the biggest ocean reefs in Mexico, which despite belonging to the Mexican Atlantic depend on two different systems: Alacranes Reef of the Gulf of Mexico and Banco Chinchorro of the Mexican Caribbean. From the results the proportion of living substrate is higher were obtained in Banco Chinchorro; however, the richness of species and diversity is greater in Alacranes (58 versus 39 species and 4.44 versus 4.38 bits/ind., respectively). Lobophora variegata (algae) is the only species whose dominance was proportionately consistent in both reefs; the similarity of sites identifies specific zones of the lagoons in both reefs, in the space the species are distributed close to the center of the axes, but many remain solitary or assembled in pairs. Despite the differences between the reefs according to the community descriptors, the location of the sites and their position in relation to the wind are relevant to the understanding of the dynamics of the lagoons.

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Spatial distribution patterns of the soft corals Alcyonium acaule and Alcyonium palmatum in coastal bottoms (Cap de Creus, northwestern Mediterranean Sea)

Cited by 37 publications

References 68 publications

Soft corals assemblages in deep environments of the Menorca Channel (Western Mediterranean Sea)

Soft corals assemblages in deep environments of the Menorca Channel (Western Mediterranean Sea)

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

Lagoons Reefs of Alacranes Reef and Chinchorro Bank: Ocean Reef of Mexican Atlantic

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