“Pink round stones”—rhodolith beds: an overlooked habitat in Madeira Archipelago

Neves, Pedro; Silva, João; Peña, Viviana; Ribeiro, Cláudia

doi:10.1007/s10531-021-02251-2

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Sphaerechinus granularis is frequently associated to rhodoliths beds (Guillou et al, 2002). Nonetheless, according to this study and other surveys performed in rhodoliths beds within Madeira archipelago (Neves et al, 2021) the species is not abundant within this habitat, particularly when compared to rocky reefs. Data obtained from an ongoing habitat-mapping project revealed high abundance of the sea urchin D. africanum within rhodoliths beds as in rocky reefs (a maximum of 13.4 ind./m 2 was recorded in intermediate and deep strata) (Ribeiro and Neves, 2020).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Population Density, Reproduction Cycle and Nutritional Value of Sphaerechinus granularis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) in an Oceanic Insular Ecosystem

et al. 2022

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Sea urchins play an important role in island coastal ecosystems as keystone species and as potential resources for harvesting and aquaculture. In Southern Europe, the most valuable and harvested species is the European purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, but there is a growing interest to explore other edible species like the blunt sea urchin Sphaerechinus granularis. The echinoderms biodiversity of Madeira archipelago was previously described, but their local habitat, population densities and size distribution, important to establish their harvest and aquaculture potential, are poorly known. The present study aimed to evaluate S. granularis population in the oligotrophic and narrow insular shelf of Madeira archipelago, mainly regarding its habitat, densities, reproduction season and roe marketable characteristics. Sphaerechinus granularis was found in low densities (0.01 ind./m2) from shallow to deep reefs (5–30 m). The highest densities occurred in shallow waters and breakwaters in association to encrusting algae, turf and erect brown macroalgae. Here, the low primary productivity ecosystem influenced the long reproductive season of the local population. This population showed a relatively high gonadosomatic index (maximum GI of 8), high gonad weight (5.00–12.19 g) with high proportion of bright yellow and orange gonads (37.5–60%) between February and November. Additionally, the high level of total carotenoids, the high PUFA (particularly EPA) content, and the ratio n-6/n-3 close to one support the high nutritional value of S. granularis roe. The trend of incremental GI between September and November and the increasing content of PUFA in autumn suggests this could be the preferential harvesting season. This information is key to evaluate a sustainable exploitation of this living marine resource.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Population Density, Reproduction Cycle and Nutritional Value of Sphaerechinus granularis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) in an Oceanic Insular Ecosystem

et al. 2022

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“…Significantly smaller rhodolith beds, covering areas of <10 km 2 in Tabarca (Spain), Campania and Apulia (Italy) (Bordehore et al, 2003; Chimienti et al, 2020; Rendina et al, 2020), and of 20–41 km 2 in northeast Malta, Lampedusa and Sardinia (Bracchi et al, 2022; Maggio et al, 2022; Sciberras et al, 2009), occur elsewhere in the Mediterranean. The Maltese and Menorcan beds are also large at a European scale, since most rhodolith beds recorded from the north‐western Atlantic are smaller than 50 km 2 (Hall‐Spencer et al, 2010; Jardim et al, 2022; Neves et al, 2021). On the other hand, the world's largest rhodolith bed, located in in Abrolhos Shelf (Brazil), covers and area of 20,902 km 2 —some 100 times greater than that of the southeast Malta rhodolith bed (Amado‐Filho et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat characterization, anthropogenic impacts and conservation of rhodolith beds off southeastern Malta

Tabone,

Knittweis,

Aguilar

et al. 2024

Aquatic Conservation

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Rhodolith beds, including maerl, are structurally complex perennial habitats that support a high species diversity but are threatened by numerous human activities, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite their global ecological importance, increased research efforts are needed to facilitate development of effective measures to conserve these habitats. Two areas hosting rhodolith beds are known to occur off the coast of Malta (central Mediterranean), but only one has been previously studied. Through analysis of video footage collected from 56 different stations coupled with a desk study on human activities, the present study characterized the rhodolith bed located off the southeastern coast of Malta, including its extent, rhodolith morphotype composition, associated megabiota and impacts of anthropogenic activities thereon. The bed occurred at depths of 60–95 m and covered an area of approximately 200 km2, making it the second most extensive rhodolith area reported for the Mediterranean to date. It was dominated by spherical and branched rhodoliths whose cover reached a maximum of 74% but was more often <50%, similar to other Mediterranean rhodolith beds. A total of 84 different megafaunal species were recorded, suggesting that the diversity of megafauna associated with rhodolith bed habitats has been previously underestimated. A number of human activities, including extensive vessel anchoring and officially designated areas for aquaculture, bunkering and trawling, overlap with the mapped rhodolith distribution, highlighting the risk of habitat degradation. A holistic approach to the management of all the competing activities and interests relative to the southeastern coast of Malta that gives due consideration to this newly characterized rhodolith bed and the threats it faces is therefore recommended. The legal framework and policy recommendations for better conservation of rhodolith bed habitats in the Mediterranean and European Seas are also discussed.

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“…Species were identified based on previous molecular identification of specimens collected at the sampling locations and diagnostic morphological characters, including: Lithothamnion crispatum Hauck (Farias et al, 2010), Melyvonnea erubescens (Foslie) Athanasiadis & D.L.Ballantine (Sissini et al, 2014) et al, 2021), and Phymatolithon lusitanicum V.Peña (Carro et al, 2014;Pardo et al, 2014;Peña et al, 2015a). Specimens collected in Gran Canaria (the Canary Islands) were morphologically similar to the rhodolith species Phymatolithon sp., collected in nearby Madeira and Porto Santo Islands (Neves et al, 2021). To confirm their conspecificity, their identification was done using molecular tools.…”

Section: Species Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Free-living coralline algae are known to form major marine carbonate-producing ecosystems, so-called rhodolith beds that provide habitat for a high diversity of fauna and flora (Riosmena-Rodriguez et al, 2017). These ecosystems occupy extensive areas around the world, from polar to tropical regions (Foster, 2001;Riosmena-Rodriguez et al, 2017), and the increasing number of recent discoveries (e.g., Harvey et al, 2017;Rebelo et al, 2018;Sreeraj et al, 2018;Bracchi et al, 2019;Jeong et al, 2019;Adams et al, 2020;Otero-Ferrer et al, 2020;Ribeiro and Neves, 2020;Neves et al, 2021;Ward et al, 2021), and global distributional models (Fragkopoulou et al, 2021;Rebelo et al, 2021), suggest that rhodolith beds may have an even wider distribution than anticipated, mainly shaped by temperature, light, pH, nutrients and water current velocity (Carvalho et al, 2020;Fragkopoulou et al, 2021;Sissini et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rhodolith Physiology Across the Atlantic: Towards a Better Mechanistic Understanding of Intra- and Interspecific Differences

et al. 2022

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Coralline algae are important components in a large variety of ecosystems. Among them, rhodoliths are a group of free-living coralline red algae that cover extensive coastal areas, from tropical to polar regions. In contrast to other ecosystem engineers, limited research efforts preclude our understanding of their physiology, underlying mechanisms, drivers and potential differences related to species under varying environments. In this study, we investigated the photosynthetic and calcification mechanisms of six Atlantic rhodolith species from different latitudes, as well as intra-specific differences in one species from four locations. Laboratory incubations under varying light levels provided simultaneous photosynthesis- and calcification-irradiance curves, allowing the assessment of inter- and intra-specific differences on the coupling between these two processes. Stable isotope analysis and specific inhibitor experiments were performed to characterize and compare carbon-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs), as well as the involvement of specific ion-transporters for calcification. Our findings showed significant differences in rhodolith physiological mechanisms that were partially driven by local environmental conditions (light, temperature). High variability was found in the coupling between photosynthesis and calcification, in CCM-strategies, and in the importance of specific ion transporters and enzymes involved in calcification. While calcification was strongly correlated with photosynthesis in all species, the strength of this link was species-specific. Calcification was also found to be reliant on photosynthesis- and light-independent processes. The latter showed a high plasticity in their expression among species, also influenced by the local environment. Overall, our findings demonstrate that (1) rhodolith calcification is a biologically-controlled process and (2) the mechanisms associated with photosynthesis and calcification display a large variability among species, suggesting potential differences not only in their individual, but also community responses to environmental changes, such as climate change.

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“Pink round stones”—rhodolith beds: an overlooked habitat in Madeira Archipelago

Cited by 15 publications

References 86 publications

Population Density, Reproduction Cycle and Nutritional Value of Sphaerechinus granularis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) in an Oceanic Insular Ecosystem

Population Density, Reproduction Cycle and Nutritional Value of Sphaerechinus granularis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) in an Oceanic Insular Ecosystem

Habitat characterization, anthropogenic impacts and conservation of rhodolith beds off southeastern Malta

Rhodolith Physiology Across the Atlantic: Towards a Better Mechanistic Understanding of Intra- and Interspecific Differences

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