The Hawaiian Archipelago

Spalding, Heather L.; Copus, Joshua M.; Bowen, Brian W.; Kosaki, Randall K.; Longenecker, Ken; Montgomery, Anthony D.; Padilla‐Gamiño, Jacqueline L.; Parrish, Frank A.; Roth, Melissa; Rowley, Sonia J.; Toonen, Robert J.; Pyle, Richard L.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92735-0_25

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Nonetheless, the occurrence of Leptoseris species, and particularly L. glabra, is restricted to mesophotic depths. Leptoseris species are key members of the mesophotic reefs, not only in the Red Sea (Tamir et al, 2019), but also in other regions worldwide, e.g., Hawaii (Spalding et al, 2019) and Australia (Englebert et al, 2017). A combination of the unique environmental adaptations (Fricke et al, 1987;Kahng et al, 2012), the lack of suitable competitors, and a larger potential habitat availability for settlement (MCEs comprise˜80% of coral reef habitats (Pyle and Copus, 2019;Kramer et al, 2019), may allow Leptoseris spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

et al. 2020

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Population size structure provides information on demographic characteristics, such as growth and decline, enabling post-hoc assessment of spatial differences in susceptibility to disturbance. Nevertheless, very few studies have quantified size data of scleractinian corals along a shallow-mesophotic gradient, partly because of previously inaccessible depths. Here, we report the coral size-frequency distributions at the morphology level (six growth forms) and at the species level for ten representative locally abundant species along a broad depth gradient (5-100 m) in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba (GoE/A). A total of 18,865 colonies belonging to 14 families and 45 genera were recorded and measured over four reef sites. Colonies were found to be 11.2% more abundant at mesophotic (40-100 m; 55.6%) depths compared with shallow (5-30 m; 44.4%). The coral taxa exhibited heterogeneity in their size-structure, with marked differences among depths, morphological growth forms, and species. Branching and corymbose corals were more prevalent in shallow waters, while encrusting and laminar forms comprised the majority of mesophotic corals. Nevertheless, massive morphology was the most abundant growth form across all sites and depths (39%), followed by laminar (26%) and encrusting (20%). Corymbose corals (primarily Acroporidae) revealed constrained size at all depths; with the lack of small-size groups indicating populations at risk of decline. Depth-generalist species belonging to massive and laminar morphologies generally exhibited a larger colony size at the mesophotic depths, but were typified by a higher number of small colonies. Furthermore, we refute the widely and longaccepted assertion that Stylophora pistillata is the most abundant coral in the northern GoE/A, and assert that Leptoseris glabra is the one. Here, we provide a baseline for future monitoring of coral population structures, insights to recent ecological dynamics, retrospective assessment of coral community recovery following disturbances and grounds for conservation assessments and management actions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

et al. 2020

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“…The trends described in this study pertain to the upper mesophotic region of Hawai'i (30-50 m), yet mesophotic reefs in Hawai'i and around the world extend to depths of 100 m or greater (Kahng and Maragos 2006;Loya et al 2016). It is unclear whether deeper mesophotic reefs undergo similar herbivore constraints as the upper mesophotic constraints described herein, or the lower temperatures (Pyle et al 2019) and differing algal species composition (Spalding et al 2019) of mid to lower mesophotic reefs may act in concert with the indirect effects of predation to further constrain herbivorous fish distributions. Additionally, the vast majority of predictive models for coral-algal-herbivore interactions do not include the role depth may play in limiting herbivore abundance (Mumby and Hastings 2007;Brokovich et al 2010a;Adam et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Non-consumptive predator effects constrain herbivorous fish distribution and abundance at upper mesophotic depths (30-50 m).

Kane

Spalding

Tissot

2020

Preprint

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Herbivorous fishes play integral roles in preventing macroalgae from displacing corals, yet appear to decline with depth despite the presence of coral-dominated habitats to >80 m. We investigated the relationship between herbivorous fish and a suite of bottom-up and top-down parameters (algal turf, macroalgal and coral cover, nutritional quality and palatability, temperature, light, and predator density) along a depth gradient from 3-50 m. Fishes were not food-limited as upper mesophotic algae had similar nutritional content, assemblages, and appeared highly palatable from algal choice experiments. In-situ temperature recordings suggest temperature was not a limiting factor. Multivariate redundancy analyses reveal the combination of increased habitat patchiness and reduced light levels best explain distributions with depth. These results suggest reductions in herbivorous fish populations across shallow to upper mesophotic depths are likely the result of non-consumptive predator effects and behavioral choices rather than abiotic constraints or resource limitation.

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“…While shallow coral reef corals are relatively well described, mesophotic corals are poorly described in American Sāmoa. The maximum reported depth of a zooxanthellate coral is 165 m at Johnston Atoll (Kahng and Maragos 2006), and 19 of 66 coral spe- cies were reported from mesophotic depths in the Hawaiian Archipelgo (Spalding et al 2019). Of the 51 reviewed studies that report corals from American Sāmoa, only four have reported corals from mesophotic depths (Hoffmeister 1925;Lamberts 1983;Bare et al 2010;Montgomery et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annotated checklist for stony corals of American Sāmoa with reference to mesophotic depth records

Montgomery¹,

Fenner²,

Toonen³

2019

Self Cite

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An annotated checklist of the stony corals (Scleractinia, Milleporidae, Stylasteridae, and Helioporidae) of American Sāmoa is presented. A total of 377 valid species has been reported from American Sāmoa with 342 species considered either present (251) or possibly present (91). Of these 342 species, 66 have a recorded geographical range extension and 90 have been reported from mesophotic depths (30–150 m). Additionally, four new species records (AcanthastreasubechinataVeron, 2000,FavitesparaflexuosusVeron, 2000,EchinophylliaechinoporoidesVeron & Pichon, 1980,TurbinariairregularisBernard, 1896) are presented. Coral species of concern include species listed under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. Approximately 17.5% of the species present or possibly present are categorized as threatened by IUCN compared to 27% of the species globally. American Sāmoa has seven ESA-listed or ESA candidate species, includingAcroporaglobiceps(Dana, 1846),AcroporajacquelineaeWallace, 1994,Acroporaretusa(Dana, 1846),Acroporaspeciosa(Quelch, 1886),Fimbriaphylliaparadivisa(Veron, 1990),Isoporacrateriformis(Gardiner, 1898), andPocilloporameandrinaDana, 1846. There are two additional species possibly present, i.e.,Pavonadiffluens(Lamarck, 1816) andPoritesnapoporaVeron, 2000.

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The Hawaiian Archipelago

Cited by 15 publications

References 80 publications

Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

Coral Morphology Portrays the Spatial Distribution and Population Size-Structure Along a 5–100 m Depth Gradient

Non-consumptive predator effects constrain herbivorous fish distribution and abundance at upper mesophotic depths (30-50 m).

Annotated checklist for stony corals of American Sāmoa with reference to mesophotic depth records

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