Reef Coral Tolerance of High Temperatures and Salinities

Corals from the Persian/Arabian Gulf as models for thermotolerant reef-builders: Prevalence of clade C3 Symbiodinium, host fluorescence and ex situ temperature tolerance

“…While many coral reefs experience maximal temperatures of $29°C and annual temperature fluctuations of $4°C some coral communities within the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian/Persian Gulf (hereafter called ''the Gulf'') can cope with exceptionally high seasonal temperature maxima (32-36°C) as well as daily (up to 9°C) and annual ($ 20°C) fluctuations (Coles, 1997(Coles, , 2003Kinsman, 1964;Riegl et al, 2011) (Fig. 1 and Table 1).…”

Coral species diversity and environmental factors in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman: a comparison to the Indo-Pacific Region

“…Salinity further increases going southward along the Saudi Arabian coastline to an average greater than 50 ppt in open water and increases to 70 ppt in bays in the Gulf of Salwah, (Coles and McCain, 1990;John, et al, 1990). The maximum salinity reported to be survived by reef corals along the Saudi Arabian coast is 46 ppt (Coles, 1988), but Kinsman (1964) reported massive Porites in Abu Dhabi waters with salinity up to 48 ppt. Sheppard (1988) listed three species of corals surviving salinities of 48-50ppt off the coast of Bahrain and found a decrease of approximately one species of corals with each ppt increase in salinity from 41-50ppt.…”

“…In contrast to upper temperature limits of 29 to 31°C that apply to corals in most tropical and subtropical regions, reef corals in the Arabian Gulf routinely live in summer temperatures of 32-33°C and may survive up to 35OC for limited periods of time. Kinsman (1964) reported annual water temperatures of up to 40°C at Abu Dhabi where corals occurred and where dominated by Acropora, normally considered a temperature sensitive genus. Coles (1988) reported temperatures in Tarut Bay, Saudi Arabia of up to 3536°C without visible effects on corals, and Sheppard (1988) reported August temperatures over 35OC where Porites harrisoni (listed as P. nodifera) thrives and forms reefs off Bahrain.…”

Spatial and temporal dynamics of Arabian Gulf coral assemblages quantified from remote-sensing and in situ monitoring data

“…In the Arabian Gulf, corals have been persisting in probably the most stressful environment for reef-building corals (Kinsman 1964, Downing 1985, Sheppard et al 1992, Riegl 2001, Sheppard & Loughland 2002. Additional to annual temperature excursions of up to 20°C, marine biota in the Arabian Gulf have been affected by several strong sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies and associated coral bleaching events (1996,1998,2002).…”