Tiger cowrie Cypraea tigris feeds on coral-competing sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata in an Acropora dominated reef of Gulf of Mannar, India

Opportunistic spongivore fishes in a reef of Gulf of Mannar, India

“…Pattinamaruthoor patch reef is not the typical island reef of GoM as it lies at about 3 km from the nearby Koswari Island and about 4 km from the mainland. The depth of this patch reef ranges between 1 and 3 m and is dominated by acroporans (Raj et al 2019). Unlike island reefs, reefs at Pattinamaruthoor are open for fishing activities and other human-induced damages.…”

“…These sessile organisms are functionally important and perform important functional roles such as mediating reef productivity, nutrient cycling, contributing to energy requirements, facilitating reef regeneration and providing microhabitats (Diaz and Rützler 2001;Wulff 2006;Bell, 2008;Rix et al 2018). Due to their wide abundance on the reefs, marine sponges are preyed upon by a number of coral reef inhabitants which include vertebrates and invertebrates (Wulff 1997;Pawlik 1998;Raj et al 2019).…”

“…The corals of GoM have suffered massive mortalities on account of the coral bleaching incidences in 2010 and 2016 driven by climate change (Edward et al 2012(Edward et al , 2018Raj et al 2021a). Recent studies report that climate-stressed corals of GoM have taken advantage by space competing organisms such as macroalgae and sponges (Raj et al 2006(Raj et al , 2018a(Raj et al , 2019(Raj et al , 2021aMachendiranathan et al 2016;Edward et al 2018). Sponges in particular have been reported to cause significant damage to the recovering corals of GoM (Raj et al 2018a(Raj et al , 2019.…”

“…Recent studies report that climate-stressed corals of GoM have taken advantage by space competing organisms such as macroalgae and sponges (Raj et al 2006(Raj et al , 2018a(Raj et al , 2019(Raj et al , 2021aMachendiranathan et al 2016;Edward et al 2018). Sponges in particular have been reported to cause significant damage to the recovering corals of GoM (Raj et al 2018a(Raj et al , 2019. Hence, managing the competition posed by sponges in the reef areas of GoM is critical in terms of coral reef conservation.…”

Low oxygen levels caused by Noctiluca scintillans bloom kills corals in Gulf of Mannar, India

“…Space competition between corals and other organisms such as algae and sponges has been reported to negatively impact the corals of GoM after the 2016 bleaching event 20,31 . At present, secondary algae have completely occupied the dead coral colonies, which will affect the coral recovery by hindering the attachment of new coral recruits during the next spawning season 32 . Recent studies suggest hypoxia increases coral susceptibility to bleaching 27 , and may increase disease prevalence and algal proliferation 7 .…”