Identity and diversity of zooxanthellae, Palau, Micronesia

Brief description

Four to five transects were video recorded at both 3 and 10 m depths at the 3 reefs (Oikull Reef, a platform reef; Taoch Bay, a fringing reef; and 'Heliofungia Lake', a karst lake) in October 2001. The taxonomic composition (to species) of hard coral communities and benthic cover (substrate type) were later determined from 40 equally spaced stop-frames along the videotape. Hard coral richness was defined as the number of genera distinguished in 40 sampling points per transect. The families Faviidae, Fungiidae, Merulinidae and Poritidae were represented in samples from all three reefs, whereas representatives of the families Acroporidae, Agariciidae, Mussiidae and Pocilloporidae were only found at one or two of the reefs.Coral fragments (42 from Heliofungia Lake Reef; 21 from Oikull Reef; and 27 from Taoch Reef) were collected from upper colony surfaces or branch tips at 5-6 m and their symbionts extracted. The fragments belonged to 38 scleractinian species (21 genera, 9 families).DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, cloning and sequencing was carried out and Zooxanthellae of clades C and D identified (C., C*, D and, in one coral a mix of 50/50 clades C and D, M). The ITS1 sequences from this study were submitted to GenBank for the clade C sequences (Accession no.s AY456926, AY456927, AY456928, AY456929, AY456930, AY456931, AY456932, AY456933, AY456934, AY456935, AY456936, AY456937, AY456938, AY456939, AY456940, AY456941, AY456942, AY456943, AY456944, AY456945, AY456946, AY456947, AY456948, AY456949, AY456950, AY456951, AY456952, AY456953, AY456954, AY456955, AY456956) and for the clade D sequences (AY457947, AY457948, AY457949, AY457950, AY457951, AY457952, AY457953, AY457954, AY457955, AY457956, AY457957, AY457958, AY457959, AY457960, AY457961, AY457962, AY457963, AY457964, AY457965, AY457966, AY457967).Temperature records were obtained from P.L. Colin's 2-years temperature logger deployments at the three sites, which had a contrasting bleaching history (2 sites bleached in 1998, one didn't). The genetic identity and diversity of zooxanthellae was investigated at 3 reefs in the Palau with contrasting histories of bleaching mortality, water temperature and shading. Coral species: Acropora brueggemanni, Acropora horrida, Acropora subglabra, Astreopora myriophthalmata, Ctenactis crassa, Cycloseris hexagonalis, Cyphastrea chalcidicum, Cyphastrea serailia, Echinophyllia echinoporides, Echinopora lamellose, Favia stelligera, Favites helicora, Fungia concinna, Fungia danae, Goniastrea aspera, Goniastrea australensis, Goniastrea edwardsii, Goniastrea pectinata, Goniastrea retiformis, Heliofungia actiniformis, Hydnophora rigida, Leptastrea pruinosa, Leptastrea purpurea, Leptastrea transversa, Lobophyllia corymbosa, Lobophyllia pachysepta, Merulina scabricula, Montastrea magnistellata, Pavona varians C, Pectinia alcycornis, Pocillopora damicornis, Porites attenuata, Porites australensis, Porites cylindrical, Porites lichen, Porites monticulosa, Porites rus, Porites sp.

Lineage

Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlanned

Statement: Statement: All data were collected and taxa identified by the principal investigator.

Notes

Credit
Fabricius, Katharina E, Dr (Principal Investigator)