scholarly journals The effects of wave exposure and host cover on coral-associated fauna of a centuries-old artificial reef in the Caribbean

2022 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 106536
Author(s):  
Myrsini M. Lymperaki ◽  
Claudia E.L. Hill ◽  
Bert W. Hoeksema
Author(s):  
Nelson Manrique Rodríguez ◽  
Claudia Agudelo ◽  
Adolfo Sanjuan-Muñoz

Varadero reef has unique ecological characteristics and faces the risk of disappearing because of the dredging for an access channel of large vessels to the Cartagena port in Colombia. In this ecosystem, the sessile benthic community, such as gorgonian octocorals and associated fauna, will be impacted. We examined the diversity and spatial distribution of gorgonians from seven sites located in the mixed coral reef zone. These organisms are generally found in depths between 6 and 10 m in the area. The richness of the gorgoniansspecies is lower than that recorded in other areas of the Caribbean. The low values of abundance and richness species are due to the characteristics of reef setoff and sedimentation processes existing in Cartagena bay.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laís de Carvalho Teixeira Chaves ◽  
Carlos Gustavo A Ormond ◽  
Elizabeth S. McGinty ◽  
Beatrice Padovani Ferreira

This study aimed to assess abundance and habitat use by juvenile and adult damselfishes, as much as the benthic cover of different reefs on Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, Panama. Reefs were selected considering different levels of wave exposure and depths. Damselfish and benthic communities were distinct between reefs. The most abundant species in the sheltered deeper reef was Stegastes planifrons followed by S. leucostictus, and they were also recorded in the sheltered shallower reef. Low densities of S. partitus and S. variabilis were also observed in the sheltered deeper reef, as these species are apparently restricted to higher depths. Additionally, these reefs presented patches with high cover of live and dead massive coral. Shallow depths presented high abundances of S. adustus, indicating a preference of this species for shallow habitats and exhibiting a two-fold increase in abundance at higher wave surge. Also, Microspathodon chrysurus reached higher numbers in shallow depths. Furthermore, the exposed reef presented a high cover (%) of algae groups and the fire-coral Millepora alcicornis, acknowledged as a preferred habitat for M. chrysurus and other reef fish. In this study, distinct habitat uses were observed, with patterns regulated by depth and/or wave exposure levels and/or availability of specific benthic cover. For site-attached species as damselfish, habitat specialization, competition and/or non-random recruitment patterns have been found to rule distributional patterns. Similar results for damselfish relative abundances were found compared to studies conducted within Panama and other reefs throughout the Caribbean region over three decades ago, indicating strong habitat affinity for the most abundant species. However, severe reductions of habitat availability following coral mass-mortality events may have disrupted their distributional patterns.


2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Vega ◽  
Rodney M. Feldmann ◽  
Pedro García-Barrera ◽  
Harry Filkorn ◽  
Francis Pimentel ◽  
...  

More than thirty complete specimens ofCarcineretes planetariusVega, Feldmann, Ocampo, and Pope, 1997, a member of the extinct decapod family Carcineretidae, have been collected from the upper part of the Ocozocuautla Formation in Chiapas, southeast Mexico. Stratigraphic occurrences ofCarcineretesin the Caribbean Province suggest that this crab should be regarded as an index fossil for the early Maastrichtian. Six samples of this species may represent individuals that died during molting. The sudden disappearance of this family at the end of the Maastrichtian and its restricted paleobiogeographic distribution in the vicinity of the impact site suggest that the Carcineretidae may have been affected by the Chicxulub impact. Other decapod specimens collected from the same localities were assigned to the Xanthidae;Parazanthopsis meyapaquensisnew genus and species, andMegaxantho zoque, new genus and species, are described. They constitute the second and third reports of Cretaceous xanthid crabs from Mexico. A lagoonal paleoenvironment is suggested, based on associated fauna and flora. Occurrences of index species of benthic and planktic foraminifera along with that of diagnostic rudist species confirm an early Maastrichtian age.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaaziel E. García-Hernández ◽  
Nicholas M. Hammerman ◽  
Juan J. Cruz-Motta ◽  
Nikolaos V. Schizas

ABSTRACTSponges provide an array of ecological services and benefits for Caribbean coral reefs. They function as habitats for a bewildering variety of species, however limited attention has been paid in the systematics and distribution of sponge-associated fauna in the class Calcarea or for that matter of sponges in the Caribbean. The goal of this study was to characterize infaunal assemblages from a calcareous sponge,Clathrina lutea, across multiple reefs from the La Parguera Natural Reserve, Puerto Rico. The associated fauna from 43C. luteaspecimens yielded a total of 2,249 associated infauna distributed in seven invertebrate phyla. Arthropoda was the most abundant phylum accounting for 62.5% of total abundance, followed by Annelida (21.0%) and Nematoda (5.5%). Limited patterns of temporal or spatial variability were surmised due to the opportunistic sampling effort afforded to this investigation from the cryptic nature of this species. A concordance between our data set and those for the class Demospongiae were observed, with the most abundant associated fauna being copepods and polychaetes. However, when compared to other Calcarea, the present study found considerably more associated fauna.


1963 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-70
Author(s):  
WALTER MISCHEL
Keyword(s):  

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