Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Climate, which sets broad limits for migrating species, is considered a key filter to species migration between contrasting marine environments. The Southeast Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) is one of the regions where ocean temperatures are rising the fastest under recent climate change. Also, it is the m...
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PeerJ Inc.
2020-06-01
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| author | Michal Grossowicz Or M. Bialik Eli Shemesh Dan Tchernov Hubert B. Vonhof Guy Sisma-Ventura |
| author_facet | Michal Grossowicz Or M. Bialik Eli Shemesh Dan Tchernov Hubert B. Vonhof Guy Sisma-Ventura |
| author_sort | Michal Grossowicz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate, which sets broad limits for migrating species, is considered a key filter to species migration between contrasting marine environments. The Southeast Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) is one of the regions where ocean temperatures are rising the fastest under recent climate change. Also, it is the most vulnerable marine region to species introductions. Here, we explore the factors which enabled the colonization of the endemic Red Sea octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) along the SEMS coast, using sclerite oxygen and carbon stable isotope composition (δ18OSC and δ13CSC), morphology, and crystallography. The unique conditions presented by the SEMS include a greater temperature range (∼15 °C) and ultra-oligotrophy, and these are reflected by the lower δ13CSCvalues. This is indicative of a larger metabolic carbon intake during calcification, as well as an increase in crystal size, a decrease of octocoral wart density and thickness of the migrating octocoral sclerites compared to the Red Sea samples. This suggests increased stress conditions, affecting sclerite deposition of the SEMS migrating octocoral. The δ18Osc range of the migrating M. erythraea indicates a preference for warm water sclerite deposition, similar to the native depositional temperature range of 21–28 °C. These findings are associated with the observed increase of minimum temperatures in winter for this region, at a rate of 0.35 ± 0.27 °C decade−1 over the last 30 years, and thus the region is becoming more hospitable to the Indo-Pacific M. erythraea. This study shows a clear case study of “tropicalization” of the Mediterranean Sea due to recent warming. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:46:55Z |
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| id | doaj.art-0bf99d4dc7884f07acacccce54133c1e |
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| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:46:55Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-0bf99d4dc7884f07acacccce54133c1e2023-12-03T10:34:16ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-06-018e935510.7717/peerj.9355Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean SeaMichal Grossowicz0Or M. Bialik1Eli Shemesh2Dan Tchernov3Hubert B. Vonhof4Guy Sisma-Ventura5Department of Marine Biology, L.H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Marine Geosciences, L.H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Marine Biology, L.H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Marine Biology, L.H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, IsraelMax Plank Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, GermanyNational Oceanography Institute, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa, IsraelClimate, which sets broad limits for migrating species, is considered a key filter to species migration between contrasting marine environments. The Southeast Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) is one of the regions where ocean temperatures are rising the fastest under recent climate change. Also, it is the most vulnerable marine region to species introductions. Here, we explore the factors which enabled the colonization of the endemic Red Sea octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) along the SEMS coast, using sclerite oxygen and carbon stable isotope composition (δ18OSC and δ13CSC), morphology, and crystallography. The unique conditions presented by the SEMS include a greater temperature range (∼15 °C) and ultra-oligotrophy, and these are reflected by the lower δ13CSCvalues. This is indicative of a larger metabolic carbon intake during calcification, as well as an increase in crystal size, a decrease of octocoral wart density and thickness of the migrating octocoral sclerites compared to the Red Sea samples. This suggests increased stress conditions, affecting sclerite deposition of the SEMS migrating octocoral. The δ18Osc range of the migrating M. erythraea indicates a preference for warm water sclerite deposition, similar to the native depositional temperature range of 21–28 °C. These findings are associated with the observed increase of minimum temperatures in winter for this region, at a rate of 0.35 ± 0.27 °C decade−1 over the last 30 years, and thus the region is becoming more hospitable to the Indo-Pacific M. erythraea. This study shows a clear case study of “tropicalization” of the Mediterranean Sea due to recent warming.https://peerj.com/articles/9355.pdfSea-surface warmingTropicalizationLessepsian migrationOctocoral scleritesStable isotopesCrystallography |
| spellingShingle | Michal Grossowicz Or M. Bialik Eli Shemesh Dan Tchernov Hubert B. Vonhof Guy Sisma-Ventura Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea PeerJ Sea-surface warming Tropicalization Lessepsian migration Octocoral sclerites Stable isotopes Crystallography |
| title | Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea |
| title_full | Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea |
| title_fullStr | Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea |
| title_short | Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea |
| title_sort | ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral melithaea erythraea ehrenberg 1834 in the eastern mediterranean sea |
| topic | Sea-surface warming Tropicalization Lessepsian migration Octocoral sclerites Stable isotopes Crystallography |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/9355.pdf |
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