Group items tagged

Stable isotope analysis of dermis was used to examine foraging behavior of whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. Values of δ13C and δ15N in dermis were compared to those obtained from likely species of local prey. The δ13C values of zooplankton and nektonic taxa at Ningaloo ranged from −18.9‰ to −16.5‰ reflecting the different carbon sources (from pelagic to more inshore and benthic) entering the food web. Isotopic values also varied depending on the diet-to-tissue discrimination factor applied in the analysis. When data was corrected using factors derived from slow turnover, structural cartilage in fins, whale sharks showed a greater reliance on pelagic food webs, whereas analyses using raw data suggested a greater dietary component from benthic and inshore habitats. Variability in δ15N values (6.9‰ to 10.8‰) implied different patterns of foraging among whale sharks, likely indicating movement among foraging localities that occur at Ningaloo Reef and along the Western Australian coast. There was evidence of enrichment in 15N occurring with increasing size in males and females, a pattern that could have been due to changes in growth rate and trophic level with age and/or an ontogenetic shift in feeding grounds. Given the variability potentially induced in stable isotope values by differences in rates of turnover of tissues and the use of diet-to-tissue discrimination factors, future studies would benefit from a multi-technique approach using different tissues to identify the diet of whale sharks.

A particular species of crab has been helping Great Barrier Reef coral combat white syndrome, a deadly disease that causes coral tissue to disintegrate.

Competitive interactions between corals and macroalgae play an important role in determining benthic community structure on coral reefs. While it is known that macroalgae may negatively affect corals, the relative influence of contact- versus water-mediated macroalgal interactions on corals - such as via an influence on coral-associated microbiomes - is less well understood. Further, the impacts of macroalgae on corals that have persisted in a heavily urbanized reef system have not been explored previously. We examined the effects of the macroalgae Lobophora sp. and Hypnea pannosa on the physiology and microbiome of three Indo-Pacific coral species (Merulina ampliata, Montipora stellata, and Pocillopora acuta) collected from two reefs in Singapore (Pulau Satumu and Kusu Island), and compared how these effects varied between direct contact and water-mediated interactions. Direct contact by Lobophora sp. caused visible tissue bleaching and reduced maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm) in all three coral species, while direct contact by H. pannosa only led to slight, but significant, suppression of Fv/Fm. No detrimental effects on coral physiology were observed when corals were in close proximity to the macroalgae or when in direct contact with algal mimics. However, both direct contact and water-mediated interactions with Lobophora sp. and H. pannosa altered the prokaryotic community structures in M. stellata. For M. ampliata and P. acuta, the changes in their microbiomes in response to algal treatments were more strongly influenced by the source reefs from which the coral colonies were collected. In particular, coral colonies collected from Kusu Island had proportionately more initial abundances of potentially pathogenic bacteria in their microbiomes than those collected from Pulau Satumu; nevertheless, coral fragments from Kusu Island had the same physiological responses to macroalgal interactions as corals from Pulau Satumu. Overall, our results reveal that, for the sp

Introduced macroalgae becoming invasive may alter ecological functions and habitats in recipient ecosystems. In the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), non-native strains of the native macroalgae Eucheuma denticulatum were introduced for farming practices and consequently spread into the surrounding seascape. We investigated potential effects of non-native and native strains of this macroalgae on a branching coral. We conducted a four-factor field experiment where we examined growth and holdfast development of introduced and native E. denticulatum on live and dead branches of Acropora sp. in the presence and absence of herbivores in Unguja Island, Zanzibar. Moreover, we estimated coral and macroalgae condition by visual examinations, gene expression analyses, and photosynthetic measurements. Macroalgae did not attach to any live coral and coral condition was not impacted by the presence of E. denticulatum, regardless of geographical origin. Instead, necrotic tissue on the macroalgae in areas of direct contact with corals indicated damage inflicted by the coral. The biomass of E. denticulatum did not differ between the replicates attached to live or dead corals in the experiment, yet biomass was strongly influenced by herbivory and replicates without protection from herbivores had a significantly lower biomass. In the absence of herbivory, introduced E. denticulatum had significantly higher growth rates than native algae based on wet weight measurements. These results contribute to an increased understanding of environmental effects by the farming of a non-native strain of algae on corals and stresses the importance to maintain viable populations of macroalgal feeding fishes in such areas.

The scaly-foot snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum) inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean relies on its sulphur-oxidising gammaproteobacterial endosymbionts for nutrition and energy. In this study, we investigate the specificity, transmission mode, and stability of multiple scaly-foot snail populations dwelling in five vent fields with considerably disparate geological, physical and chemical environmental conditions. Results of population genomics analyses reveal an incongruent phylogeny between the endosymbiont and mitochondrial genomes of the scaly-foot snails in the five vent fields sampled, indicating that the hosts obtain endosymbionts via horizontal transmission in each generation. However, the genetic homogeneity of many symbiont populations implies that vertical transmission cannot be ruled out either. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation of ovarian tissue yields symbiont signals around the oocytes, suggesting that vertical transmission co-occurs with horizontal transmission. Results of in situ environmental measurements and gene expression analyses from in situ fixed samples show that the snail host buffers the differences in environmental conditions to provide the endosymbionts with a stable intracellular micro-environment, where the symbionts serve key metabolic functions and benefit from the host's cushion. The mixed transmission mode, symbiont specificity at the species level, and stable intracellular environment provided by the host support the evolutionary, ecological, and physiological success of scaly-foot snail holobionts in different vents with unique environmental parameters.