Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species
Bathymetric distributions of photosynthetic marine invertebrate species are relatively well studied, however the importance of symbiont zonation (i.e. hosting of distinct algal endosymbiont communities over depth) in determining these depth distributions still remains unclear. Here, we assess the pr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.140297 |
| _version_ | 1818329782476079104 |
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| author | Pim Bongaerts Margaux Carmichael Kyra B. Hay Linda Tonk Pedro R. Frade Ove Hoegh-Guldberg |
| author_facet | Pim Bongaerts Margaux Carmichael Kyra B. Hay Linda Tonk Pedro R. Frade Ove Hoegh-Guldberg |
| author_sort | Pim Bongaerts |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bathymetric distributions of photosynthetic marine invertebrate species are relatively well studied, however the importance of symbiont zonation (i.e. hosting of distinct algal endosymbiont communities over depth) in determining these depth distributions still remains unclear. Here, we assess the prevalence of symbiont zonation in tropical scleractinian corals by genotyping the Symbiodinium of the 25 most common species over a large depth range (down to 60 m) on a Caribbean reef. Symbiont depth zonation was found to be common on a reef-wide scale (11 out of 25 coral species), and a dominant feature in species with the widest depth distributions. With regards to reproductive strategy, symbiont zonation was more common in broadcasting species, which also exhibited a higher level of polymorphism in the symbiont zonation (i.e. number of different Symbiodinium profiles involved). Species with symbiont zonation exhibited significantly broader depth distributions than those without, highlighting the role of symbiont zonation in shaping the vertical distributions of the coral host. Overall, the results demonstrate that coral reefs can consist of highly structured communities over depth when considering both the coral host and their obligate photosymbionts, which probably has strong implications for the extent of connectivity between shallow and mesophotic habitats. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T12:53:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-de67ca025abc46f48cf9eca0caf145cc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T12:53:32Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-de67ca025abc46f48cf9eca0caf145cc2022-12-21T23:45:16ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032015-01-012210.1098/rsos.140297140297Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral speciesPim BongaertsMargaux CarmichaelKyra B. HayLinda TonkPedro R. FradeOve Hoegh-GuldbergBathymetric distributions of photosynthetic marine invertebrate species are relatively well studied, however the importance of symbiont zonation (i.e. hosting of distinct algal endosymbiont communities over depth) in determining these depth distributions still remains unclear. Here, we assess the prevalence of symbiont zonation in tropical scleractinian corals by genotyping the Symbiodinium of the 25 most common species over a large depth range (down to 60 m) on a Caribbean reef. Symbiont depth zonation was found to be common on a reef-wide scale (11 out of 25 coral species), and a dominant feature in species with the widest depth distributions. With regards to reproductive strategy, symbiont zonation was more common in broadcasting species, which also exhibited a higher level of polymorphism in the symbiont zonation (i.e. number of different Symbiodinium profiles involved). Species with symbiont zonation exhibited significantly broader depth distributions than those without, highlighting the role of symbiont zonation in shaping the vertical distributions of the coral host. Overall, the results demonstrate that coral reefs can consist of highly structured communities over depth when considering both the coral host and their obligate photosymbionts, which probably has strong implications for the extent of connectivity between shallow and mesophotic habitats.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.140297coral reefdepth distributionsymbiont zonationmesophoticsymbiodinium |
| spellingShingle | Pim Bongaerts Margaux Carmichael Kyra B. Hay Linda Tonk Pedro R. Frade Ove Hoegh-Guldberg Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species Royal Society Open Science coral reef depth distribution symbiont zonation mesophotic symbiodinium |
| title | Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species |
| title_full | Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species |
| title_fullStr | Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species |
| title_short | Prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species |
| title_sort | prevalent endosymbiont zonation shapes the depth distributions of scleractinian coral species |
| topic | coral reef depth distribution symbiont zonation mesophotic symbiodinium |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.140297 |
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