Synchronous spawnings of 105 scleractinian coral species on the Great Barrier Reef

1986 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Babcock ◽  
G. D. Bull ◽  
P. L. Harrison ◽  
A. J. Heyward ◽  
J. K. Oliver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Scleractinian Coral ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Barrier Reef

scholarly journals Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Tory J Chase ◽  
Mia O Hoogenboom
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Habitat ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Stylophora Pistillata ◽  
Coral Colony ◽  
Seriatopora Hystrix

Associations between habitat-forming, branching scleractinian corals and damselfish have critical implications for the function and trophic dynamics of coral reef ecosystems. This study quantifies how different characteristics of reef habitat, and of coral morphology, determine whether fish occupy a coral colony. In situ surveys of aggregative damselfish–coral associations were conducted at 51 different sites distributed among 22 reefs spread along >1700 km of the Great Barrier Reef, to quantify interaction frequency over a large spatial scale. The prevalence of fish–coral associations between five damselfish (Chromis viridis, Dascyllus aruanus, Dascyllus reticulatus, Pomacentrus amboinensis and Pomacentrus moluccensis) and five coral species (Acropora spathulata, Acropora intermedia, Pocillopora damicornis, Seriatopora hystrix, and Stylophora pistillata) averaged ~30% across all corals, but ranged from <1% to 93% of small branching corals occupied at each site, depending on reef exposure levels and habitat. Surprisingly, coral cover was not correlated with coral occupancy, or total biomass of damselfish. Instead, the biomass of damselfish was two-fold greater on sheltered sites compared with exposed sites. Reef habitat type strongly governed these interactions with reef slope/base (25%) and shallow sand-patch habitats (38%) hosting a majority of aggregative damselfish-branching coral associations compared to reef flat (10%), crest (16%), and wall habitats (11%). Among the focal coral species, Seriatopora hystrix hosted the highest damselfish biomass (12.45 g per occupied colony) and Acropora intermedia the least (6.87 g per occupied colony). Analyses of local coral colony traits indicated that multiple factors governed colony usage, including spacing between colonies on the benthos, colony position, and colony branching patterns. Nevertheless, the morphological and habitat characteristics that determine whether or not a colony is occupied by fish varied among coral species. These findings illuminate the realized niche of one of the most important and abundant reef fish families and provide a context for understanding how fish–coral interactions influence coral population and community level processes.

scholarly journals Asymmetric dispersal is a critical element of concordance between biophysical dispersal models and spatial genetic structure in Great Barrier Reef corals

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Riginos ◽  
K Hock ◽  
AM Matias ◽  
PJ Mumby ◽  
MJH van Oppen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Larval Dispersal ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Spatial Genetic Structure ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Biophysical Models ◽  
Asymmetric Dispersal

AbstractAimWidespread coral bleaching, crown-of-thorns seastar outbreaks, and tropical storms all threaten foundational coral species of the Great Barrier Reef, with impacts differing over time and space. Yet, dispersal via larval propagules could aid reef recovery by supplying new settlers and enabling the spread of adaptive variation among regions. Documenting and predicting spatial connections arising from planktonic larval dispersal in marine species, however, remains a formidable challenge.LocationThe Great Barrier Reef, AustraliaMethodsContemporary biophysical larval dispersal models were used to predict longdistance multigenerational connections for two common and foundational coral species (Acropora tenuisandAcropora millepora). Spatially extensive genetic surveys allowed us to infer signatures of asymmetric dispersal for these species and evaluate concordance against expectations from biophysical models using coalescent genetic simulations, directions of inferred gene flow, and spatial eigenvector modelling.ResultsAt long distances, biophysical models predicted a preponderance of north to south connections and genetic results matched these expectations: coalescent genetic simulations rejected an alternative scenario of historical isolation; the strongest signals of inferred gene flow were from north to south; and asymmetric eigenvectors derived from north to south connections in the biophysical models were significantly better predictors of spatial genetic patterns than eigenvectors derived from symmetric null spatial models.Main conclusionsResults are consistent with biophysical dispersal models yielding approximate summaries of past multigenerational gene flow conditioned upon directionality of connections. ForA. tenuisandA. millepora, northern and central reefs have been important sources to downstream southern reefs over the recent evolutionary past and should continue to provide southward gene flow. Endemic genetic diversity of southern reefs suggests substantial local recruitment and lack of long distance gene flow from south to north.

Coral communities of the Gneering Shoals and Mudjimba Island, south-eastern Queensland

1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
SA Banks ◽  
VJ Harriott
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Rocky Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Communities ◽  
Physical Attributes ◽  
Community Types

The Gneering Shoals and Mudjimba Island are coastal rocky-reef communities approximately 250 km south of the Great Barrier Reef. Ten sites from 700 m to 12 km offshore were investigated with the use of video-transects to determine percentage cover of benthic organisms. The marine benthic communities were dominated by hard corals, soft corals and turf algae. Three community types were identified: (1) offshore communities, (2) island-associated communities, and (3) a nearshore algae-dominated community. Inshore sites were dominated by flat encrusting hard corals, whereas offshore sites were dominated by foliose and plating hard corals, particularly Acropora solitaryensis and Turbinaria spp. There was a notable scarcity of branching species, particularly from the Family Acroporidae. Seventy-seven species of scleractinian coral, representing 30 genera in 11 families, have been recorded from the Gneering Shoals region. The Gneering Shoals had low coral species richness relative to the southern Great Barrier Reef (244 species) and Flinders Reef, 50 km to the south-east (118 species). Possible explanations for the relatively low coral species richness in the Gneering Shoals region include the physical attributes of the site and the hypothesized failure of the East Australian Current to be a major influence on the region.

scholarly journals Conversion of Calcified Algae (Halimeda sp) and Hard Coral (Porites sp) to Hydroxyapatite

2017 ◽  
Vol 758 ◽  
pp. 157-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina Choi ◽  
Ipek Karacan ◽  
Sophie Cazalbou ◽  
Louise Evans ◽  
Sutinee Sinutok ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Phosphate ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Species ◽  
Calcium Phosphates ◽  
Current Work ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Hard Coral ◽  
Chemical Methods ◽  
Co Precipitation

Calcium phosphate materials can be produced using a number of wet methods that are based on hydrothermal or co-precipitation methods that might use acidic or basic chemical environments. In our previously published works, we have investigated calcium phosphates such as monetite, hydroxyapatite, and whitlockite which were successfully produced by mechano-chemical methods and/or hydrothermal treatments from a range of marine shells and corals which were obtained from the Great Barrier Reef. The aim of the current work was to analyze and compare the mechanisms of conversion of one hard coral species and one calcified algae species from the Great Barrier Reef.

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