Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T17:16:28.077Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Notes on reproduction of eight species of Eastern Pacific cold-water octocorals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2015

Keri A. Feehan  and
Rhian G. Waller
Keri A. Feehan*
Affiliation:
School of Marine Sciences, Darling Marine Center, The University of Maine, Walpole, ME, 04573, USA
Rhian G. Waller
Affiliation:
School of Marine Sciences, Darling Marine Center, The University of Maine, Walpole, ME, 04573, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: K.A. Feehan, School of Marine Sciences, Darling Marine Center, The University of Maine, Walpole, ME, 04573, USA email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examined the reproductive ecology of eight Eastern Pacific deep-sea octocorals, collected from Washington to Southern California. The sexuality, reproductive mode, oocyte size, and fecundity of each species were identified using histological techniques. This research increases the knowledge of basic life histories of deep-sea corals. Swiftia simplex had the highest total fecundity of 42.53 (±9.82 SE) oocytes per polyp. Mean oocyte diameters in S. simplex and S. pacifica females differs among sample months. Swiftia pacifica and S. kofoidi had the lowest total fecundity: 4.6 (±2.06 SE) and 3 (±1.53 SE) oocytes per polyp, respectively.

Keywords

cold-water coralsdeep-seaEastern Pacificreproductionfecundity
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 4 , June 2015 , pp. 691 - 696
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baillon, S., Hamel, J.F., Wareham, V.E. and Mercier, A. (2014) Seasonality in reproduction of the deep-water pennatulacean coral Anthoptilum grandiflorum . Marine Biology 161, 29–43.Google Scholar
Bongiorni, L., Shafir, S., Angel, D. and Rinkevich, B. (2003) Survival, growth and gonad development of two hermatypic corals subjected to in situ fish farm enrichment. Marine Ecology Progress Series 253, 137–144.Google Scholar
Braga-Henriques, A., Porteiro, F.M., Ribeiro, P.A., De Matos, V., Sampaio, í., Ocaña, O. and Santos, R.S. (2013) Diversity, distribution and spatial structure of the cold-water coral fauna of the Azores (NE Atlantic). Biogeosciences Discussions 10, 4020–4021.Google Scholar
Brancato, M.S., Bowlby, C.E., Hyland, J., Intelmann, S.S. and Brenkman, K. (2007) Observations of deep coral and sponge assemblages in Olympic coast national marine sanctuary, Washington. Cruise Report: NOAA ship McArthur II Cruise AR06–06/07. Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series NMSP-07-04.Google Scholar
Brooke, S. and Järnegren, J. (2013) Reproductive periodicity of the scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa from the Trondheim Fjord, Norway. Marine Biology 160, 139–153.Google Scholar
Cairns, S. (2007) Deep-water corals: an overview with special references to diversity and distribution of deep-water scleractinian corals. Bulletin of Marine Science 81, 311–322.Google Scholar
Excoffon, A.C., Navella, M.L., Acuña, F.H. and Garese, A. (2011) Oocyte production, fecundity, and size at the onset of reproduction of Tripalea clavaria (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Anthothelidae) in the Southwastern Atlantic. Zoological Studies 50, 434–442.Google Scholar
Harrison, P. and Ward, S. (2001) Elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus reduce fertilization success of gametes from scleractinian reef corals. Marine Biology 139, 1057–1068.Google Scholar
Kahng, S.E., Benayahu, Y. and Lasker, H.R. (2011) Sexual reproduction in octocorals. Marine Ecology Progress Series 443, 265–283.Google Scholar
Kleypas, J.A., Feely, R.A., Fabry, V.J., Langdon, C., Sabine, C.L. and Robbins, L.L. (2006) Impacts of ocean acidification on coral reefs and other marine calcifers: a guide for future research. Report of a workshop held 18–20 April 2005, St. Petersburg, FL, sponsored by NSF, NOAA, and the U.S. Geological Survey, 88 pp.Google Scholar
Mercier, A., & Hamel, J.F. (2011) Contrasting reproductive strategies in three deep-sea octocorals from eastern Canada: Primnoa resedaeformis, Keratoisis ornata, and Anthomastus grandiflorus . Coral Reefs 30, 337–350.Google Scholar
Orejas, C., Gili, J.M., López-González, P.J., Hasemann, C. and Arntz, W.E. (2007) Reproduction patterns of four Antarctic octocorals in the Weddell Sea: an inter-specific, shape, and latitudinal comparison. Marine Biology 150, 551–563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richmond, R. (1997) Reproduction and recruitment in corals: critical links to the persistence of reefs. In Birkeland, C. (ed.) Life and death of coral reefs. New York, NY: Chapman & Hall, pp. 175–197.Google Scholar
Roberts, J.M., Wheeler, A.J. and Freiwald, A. (2006) Reefs of the deep: the biology and geology of cold-water coral ecosystems. Science 312, 543–547.Google Scholar
Roberts, J.M., Wheeler, A., Freiwald, A. and Cairns, S. (2009) Cold-water corals: the biology and geology of deep-sea coral habitats. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, S. and Hirshfield, M. (2004) Deep-sea corals: out of sight, but no longer out of mind. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2, 123–130.Google Scholar
Stone, R.P. and Shotwell, K.S. (2007) State of deep coral ecosystems in the Alaska Region: Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands. In Lumsden, S. E., Hourigan, T.F., Bruckner, A.W. and Dorr, G. (eds) The state of deep coral ecosystems of the United States. NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP-3, Silver Spring, MD, pp. 65–108.Google Scholar
Turley, C., Roberts, J.M. and Guinotte, J.J. (2007) Corals in deep water: will the unseen hand of ocean acidification destroy cold water ecosystems? Coral Reefs 26, 445–448.Google Scholar
Van Veghel, M.L.J. and Bak, R.P.M. (1994) Reproductive characteristics of the polymorphic Caribbean reef-building coral Monastrea annularis. III. Reproduction in damaged and regenerating colonies. Marine Ecology Progress Series 109, 229–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waller, R.G. (2005) Deep-water Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa): current knowledge of reproductive processes. In Freiwald, A. and Roberts, J.M. (eds) Cold-water corals and ecosystems. Berlin: Springer Verlag, pp. 691–700.Google Scholar
Waller, R.G. and Feehan, K.A. (2013) Reproductive ecology of a polar deep-sea scleractinian, Fungiacyathus marenzelleri (Vaughan, 1906). Deep Sea Research II 92, 201–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waller, R.G., Stone, R.P., Johnstone, J. and Mondragon, J. (2014) Sexual reproduction and seasonality of the Alaskan Red Tree Coral, Primnoa pacifica . PLoS ONE 9, e90893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waller, R.G. and Tyler, P.A. (2011) Reproductive patterns in two deep-water solitary corals from the northeast Atlantic – Flabellum alabastrum and F. angulare (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 91, 669–675.Google Scholar
Waller, R.G., Tyler, P.A. and Gage, J.D. (2002) Reproductive ecology of the deep-sea scleractinian coral Fungiacyathus marenzelleri (Vaughan, 1906) in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Coral Reefs 21, 325–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waller, R.G., Tyler, P.A. and Gage, J.D. (2005) Sexual reproduction in three hermaphroditic deep-sea Caryophyllia species (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) from the NE Atlantic Ocean. Coral Reefs 24, 594–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watling, L., France, S.C., Pante, E. and Simpson, A. (2011) Biology of deep water octocorals. Advances in Marine Biology 60, 41–122.Google Scholar
Zakai, D., Levy, O. and Chadwick-Furman, N.E. (2000) Experimental fragmentation reduces sexual reproductive output by the reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis . Coral Reefs 19, 185–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar