Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean
Among symbiotic associations, cases of pseudo-auto-epizoism, in which a species uses a resembling but not directly related species as substrate, are poorly documented in coral reef ecosystems. In the present study, we assessed the distribution of an association between the hydrocorals <i>Styla...
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doaj-aa4c684441ee4f4e83e319477e810ae52020-11-25T03:03:50ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182020-05-011221821810.3390/d12060218Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern CaribbeanSimone Montano0James D. Reimer1Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko2Jaaziel E. García-Hernández3Godfried W.N.M. van Moorsel4Paolo Galli5Bert W. Hoeksema6Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), University of Milan – Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 20126 Milan, ItalyMolecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213, JapanDepartment of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, RussiaMarine Genomic Biodiversity Laboratory, University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez, La Parguera, PR 00667, USAEcosub, Berkenlaantje 2, 3956 DM Leersum, The NetherlandsDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), University of Milan – Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 20126 Milan, ItalyTaxonomy and Systematics Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsAmong symbiotic associations, cases of pseudo-auto-epizoism, in which a species uses a resembling but not directly related species as substrate, are poorly documented in coral reef ecosystems. In the present study, we assessed the distribution of an association between the hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> on about 50% of coral reef sites studied in Bonaire, southern Caribbean. Although previously thought to be uncommon, associations between the lace coral <i>S. roseus</i> and the fire coral <i>M. alcicornis</i> were observed at both the windward and leeward sides of Bonaire, mainly between 15 and 25 m depth, reaching a maximum occupation of 47 <i>S. roseus</i> colonies on a single <i>M. alcicornis</i> colony. Both species’ tissues did not show any signs of injuries, while an in-depth inspection of the contact points of their skeletons revealed that both partners can partially overgrow each other. How it is possible that <i>S. roseus</i> is able to settle on the stinging tissue of <i>Millepora</i> as well as how, by contrast, the latter may facilitate the lace coral by offering a certain degree of protection are questions that deserve further investigations.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/6/218Caribbean Netherlandsfire coralsHydrozoapseudo-auto-epizoismstony coralssubstrate |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Simone Montano James D. Reimer Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko Jaaziel E. García-Hernández Godfried W.N.M. van Moorsel Paolo Galli Bert W. Hoeksema |
spellingShingle |
Simone Montano James D. Reimer Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko Jaaziel E. García-Hernández Godfried W.N.M. van Moorsel Paolo Galli Bert W. Hoeksema Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean Diversity Caribbean Netherlands fire corals Hydrozoa pseudo-auto-epizoism stony corals substrate |
author_facet |
Simone Montano James D. Reimer Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko Jaaziel E. García-Hernández Godfried W.N.M. van Moorsel Paolo Galli Bert W. Hoeksema |
author_sort |
Simone Montano |
title |
Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean |
title_short |
Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean |
title_full |
Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean |
title_fullStr |
Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Widespread Occurrence of a Rarely Known Association between the Hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean |
title_sort |
widespread occurrence of a rarely known association between the hydrocorals <i>stylaster roseus</i> and <i>millepora alcicornis</i> at bonaire, southern caribbean |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Diversity |
issn |
1424-2818 |
publishDate |
2020-05-01 |
description |
Among symbiotic associations, cases of pseudo-auto-epizoism, in which a species uses a resembling but not directly related species as substrate, are poorly documented in coral reef ecosystems. In the present study, we assessed the distribution of an association between the hydrocorals <i>Stylaster roseus</i> and <i>Millepora alcicornis</i> on about 50% of coral reef sites studied in Bonaire, southern Caribbean. Although previously thought to be uncommon, associations between the lace coral <i>S. roseus</i> and the fire coral <i>M. alcicornis</i> were observed at both the windward and leeward sides of Bonaire, mainly between 15 and 25 m depth, reaching a maximum occupation of 47 <i>S. roseus</i> colonies on a single <i>M. alcicornis</i> colony. Both species’ tissues did not show any signs of injuries, while an in-depth inspection of the contact points of their skeletons revealed that both partners can partially overgrow each other. How it is possible that <i>S. roseus</i> is able to settle on the stinging tissue of <i>Millepora</i> as well as how, by contrast, the latter may facilitate the lace coral by offering a certain degree of protection are questions that deserve further investigations. |
topic |
Caribbean Netherlands fire corals Hydrozoa pseudo-auto-epizoism stony corals substrate |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/6/218 |
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