Reproductive ecology of fire corals in the northern Red Sea

IF 2.7 2区 生物学 Q1 MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
Lachan Roth, Tom Shlesinger, Yossi Loya
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Abstract

Scleractinian corals, the principal architects of coral reefs, face substantial threats from ongoing and anticipated climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances. This underscores the significance of investigating alternative reef-building organisms and their contribution to reefs’ resilience. Among these alternatives, colonial hydrozoans of the genus Millepora, commonly called ‘fire corals’, play substantial roles in contributing to coral reef structure and functionality by depositing calcareous exoskeletons. Despite the ecological importance of fire corals, fundamental knowledge gaps remain regarding their biology and reproductive ecology. Here, we present a comprehensive study on the population dynamics, reproductive ecology, phenology, and sex ratio of the three Red Sea fire corals—Millepora dichotoma, M. exaesa, and M. platyphylla—in the Gulf of Aqaba and Eilat. The abundance of M. dichotoma and M. exaesa seems to have remained consistent over the last 50 years across two of the three depth zones surveyed, indicating their potential resistance or resilience. However, at the third depth surveyed, their abundance appears to have decreased. Our extensive in-situ monitoring of breeding events over six consecutive years has revealed a previously undetected relationship between Millepora species breeding events and the lunar cycle. Histological analyses indicated remarkably short reproductive cycles of only 2–3 weeks, recurring multiple times within a single season, in both M. dichotoma and M. exaesa, which is a unique reproductive aspect compared to other reef-building corals. These results highlight the high reproductive and resilience potential of Millepora species. Consequently, fire corals could assume a more substantial role as keystone species in changing environments and future reefs, emphasizing their importance in reef conservation and management.

Abstract Image

红海北部火珊瑚的生殖生态学
硬骨鱼类珊瑚是珊瑚礁的主要建筑师,面临着持续的和预期的气候变化及其他人为干扰的巨大威胁。这凸显了研究替代造礁生物及其对珊瑚礁复原力的贡献的重要性。在这些替代生物中,通常被称为 "火珊瑚 "的米乐藻属殖水螅虫通过沉积钙质外骨骼对珊瑚礁的结构和功能起着重要作用。尽管火珊瑚具有重要的生态意义,但有关其生物学和繁殖生态学的基本知识仍然存在空白。在此,我们对亚喀巴湾和埃拉特的三种红海火珊瑚--Millepora dichotoma、M. exaesa 和 M. platyphylla--的种群动态、繁殖生态学、物候学和性别比例进行了全面研究。在所调查的三个深度区域中,M. dichotoma 和 M. exaesa 的丰度在过去 50 年中似乎在两个区域保持一致,这表明它们具有潜在的抵抗力或复原力。不过,在第三个调查深度,它们的数量似乎有所减少。我们对连续六年的繁殖活动进行了广泛的现场监测,发现米乐藻的繁殖活动与月相周期之间存在着一种以前未曾发现的关系。组织学分析表明,M. dichotoma和M. exaesa的繁殖周期非常短,只有2-3周,而且在一个季节内重复多次,与其他造礁珊瑚相比,这是一个独特的繁殖方面。这些结果凸显了米乐藻物种的高繁殖和恢复潜力。因此,在不断变化的环境和未来的珊瑚礁中,火珊瑚作为基石物种可以发挥更重要的作用,从而强调其在珊瑚礁保护和管理中的重要性。
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来源期刊
Coral Reefs
Coral Reefs 生物-海洋与淡水生物学
CiteScore
6.80
自引率
11.40%
发文量
111
审稿时长
4-8 weeks
期刊介绍: Coral Reefs, the Journal of the International Coral Reef Society, presents multidisciplinary literature across the broad fields of reef studies, publishing analytical and theoretical papers on both modern and ancient reefs. These encourage the search for theories about reef structure and dynamics, and the use of experimentation, modeling, quantification and the applied sciences. Coverage includes such subject areas as population dynamics; community ecology of reef organisms; energy and nutrient flows; biogeochemical cycles; physiology of calcification; reef responses to natural and anthropogenic influences; stress markers in reef organisms; behavioural ecology; sedimentology; diagenesis; reef structure and morphology; evolutionary ecology of the reef biota; palaeoceanography of coral reefs and coral islands; reef management and its underlying disciplines; molecular biology and genetics of coral; aetiology of disease in reef-related organisms; reef responses to global change, and more.
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