Low vulnerability of the Mediterranean antipatharian Antipathella subpinnata (Ellis & Solander, 1786) to ocean warming

Higher daily temperature range at depth is linked with higher thermotolerance in antipatharians from the canary islands

“…Subsequent photographs were analysed using the software ImageJ (Schneider et al, 2012). These normalization methods allowed comparison with previous results (A. subpinnata in Godefroid et al, 2022b;Stichopathes sp. in Godefroid et al, 2022a).…”

“…Both populations were also able to recover a normal metabolic rate after the ramping, suggesting that the gradual, but fast, increase in temperatures did not lead to severe consequences. Only one experiment has previously assessed the effects of increasing temperatures on an Antipatharian within the same genus (Antipathella subpinnata; Godefroid et al, 2022b). In this experiment, fragments were exposed to a range of temperatures (14 to 19°C) over 15 days and results showed very low thermal sensitivity for this species, with no significant effects even at +4.5°C above the mean annual temperature.…”

“…Another 15-days experiment performed on the Mediterranean Antipatharian Antipathella subpinnata (70 m, Bordighera, Italy) revealed a wide thermal performance window (6.1°C) and no significant effects at any temperature, up to +4.5°C above the annual mean thermal conditions, suggesting very low sensitivity of this species (Godefroid et al, 2022b). So far, the paucity of studies on Antipatharians prevents drawing a global picture of the sensitivity of antipatharians to increased temperatures.…”

Thermal sensitivity of black corals (Antipatharia: Hexacorallia): Comparisons between sympatric species from a thermally fluctuating site in Madagascar and between allopatric congenerics

“…Indeed, Antipathella subpinnata from the Mediterranean (70 m, Italy), Antipathella wollastoni and Stichopathes gracilis from the subtropical East Atlantic (40 and 80 m, respectively, Canary islands) were reported to have a lower thermal sensitivity than Stichopathes sp. from the Equatorial Pacific (80 m, Mo'orea, French Polynesia) (Godefroid et al, 2022a(Godefroid et al, , 2022b2023a, 2023bGouveia et al, 2023). However, these studies included arborescent (both Antipathella) and whip-shaped (both Stichopathes) species.…”