The Classification, Diversity and Ecology of Shallow Water Octocorals

Lau, Yee Wah; Poliseno, Angelo; Kushida, Yuka; Quéré, Gaëlle; Reimer, James Davis

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.12109-8

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…As the name octocoral is derived from Latin “octo”, which means eight, soft coral species comprise of eight-tentacle polyps and eight mesenteries, with minimal variance within the clade. The polyp in octocorals is an individual zooid, and they together play important roles in the essential functions of a colony, including growth, food capture, transport of nutrients, defence, irrigation of seawater and reproduction [ 1 ]. As suspension feeders, soft coral food intake relies on environmental conditions, especially water currents [ 2 ].…”

Section: Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The subclass Octocorallia comprises three orders: Alcyonacea, Helioporacea and Pennatulacea. The order Alcyonacea (Lamouroux, 1816) has the most number of species among octocorals [ 1 ]. Alcyonacea consists of stoloniferous forms, soft corals, and gorgonians [ 10 ].…”

Section: Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are approximately 31 families of soft corals and sea fans under this order, despite the lack of defining synapomorphies [ 9 ]. Although this order has been divided into six sub-ordinal groups: Alcyoniina, Calcaxonia, Holaxonia, Protoalcyonaria, Scleraxonia and Stolonifera, there is no molecular analysis to support this classification scheme, which reflects morphological categories, not clades [ 1 , 9 , 11 ]. Most soft corals belong to the order Alcyonacea, which includes the families Xeniidae, Nephtheidae, and Alcyoniidae.…”

Section: Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Species Diversity and Secondary Metabolites of Sarcophyton-Associated Marine Fungi

et al. 2021

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Soft corals are widely distributed across the globe, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, with Sarcophyton being one of the most abundant genera. To date, there have been 50 species of identified Sarcophyton. These soft corals host a diverse range of marine fungi, which produce chemically diverse, bioactive secondary metabolites as part of their symbiotic nature with the soft coral hosts. The most prolific groups of compounds are terpenoids and indole alkaloids. Annually, there are more bio-active compounds being isolated and characterised. Thus, the importance of the metabolite compilation is very much important for future reference. This paper compiles the diversity of Sarcophyton species and metabolites produced by their associated marine fungi, as well as the bioactivity of these identified compounds. A total of 88 metabolites of structural diversity are highlighted, indicating the huge potential these symbiotic relationships hold for future research.

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Section: Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Species Diversity and Secondary Metabolites of Sarcophyton-Associated Marine Fungi

et al. 2021

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“…Octocorals are benthic marine organisms characterized by the presence of polyps bearing eight pinnate tentacles and have evolved a wide range of biomineralization strategies, including the production of skeletal structures composed of different calcium carbonate polymorphs (Fabricius and Alderslade, 2001;Aharonovich and Benayahu, 2012;Conci et al, 2021). Octocorals belong to the subclass Octocorallia, which comprises orders Helioporacea (blue corals), Pennatulacea (sea pens), and Alcyonacea (soft corals and gorgonians) that represents one of the most diverse macrobenthic group in tropical and subtropical shallow coral reefs and deep-sea environments (Lau et al, 2020). In addition, Octocorallia represents 64% of all extant coral species in the world (Williams and Cairns, 2018), providing a wide array of ecological benefits including coral reef development and structural complexity (Jones et al, 1994;Edmunds et al, 2016;Shoham et al, 2019), nutrition (Etnoyer et al, 2016;Garra et al, 2020), and refuge for reef organisms (Carvalho et al, 2014;Cúrdia et al, 2015;Dias et al, 2015;Epstein and Kingsford, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and Short-Term Temporal Patterns of Octocoral Assemblages in the West Philippine Sea

et al. 2022

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Octocorals are relatively understudied than other coral reef organisms despite their ecological and economic values. The Philippines is known to have high marine biodiversity, but information on octocorals is lacking. This study investigated spatial and temporal variations in the assemblage of octocorals in selected reef sites in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)- the Kalayaan Island Group (i.e., Pag-asa, Sabina, Lawak, and Northeast Investigator) and Ulugan in 2017 and 2019. Results showed high octocoral taxonomic richness (at least 10 families) in the study sites. Mean percent octocoral cover in WPS was 5.35% SE ± 0.55, with Sabina having the highest octocoral cover in both years. Significant differences in octocoral cover were observed among sites in both years, but among-station differences were only observed in 2017. Octocoral assemblage also differed among sites in both years (ANOSIM: R > 0.5, p < 0.05), wherein different octocoral taxa dominated in different sites. In particular, variations were driven by high cover of holaxonians, nephtheids, and coelogorgiids in Sabina, and clavulariids, tubiporiids, and xeniids in Northeast Investigator in 2017. In 2019, significant variations were driven by high cover of helioporiids in Pag-asa, while Sabina had higher abundance of holaxonians, nephtheids, alcyoniids, and xeniids. Short-term temporal variation on octocoral cover in monitoring stations in Pag-asa was not observed (Kruskal-Wallis, p > 0.05), although the overall mean octocoral cover increased from 1.23% ± SE 0.47 in 2017 to 2.09% SE ± 0.37 in 2019. Further, there was no significant change in the octocoral assemblage in Pag-asa between years (ANOSIM, R = 0.11, p = 0.07). This study highlights high octocoral taxonomic richness in the WPS relative to other sites in the Indo-Pacific Region and provides baseline information on the octocoral assemblages, which can be useful for future ecological studies and marine biodiversity conservation efforts.

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“…Addition-ally, some sea pens have other polyps, such as mesozooids or acrozooids (Williams 2011;Williams et al 2012). The peduncle has well-developed muscles and is used to anchor the body in sandy and/or muddy places (Fabricius & Alderslade 2001;Williams 2011;Lau et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A sea pen field in shallow water in the Amakusa Islands, southern Japan

Kushida

Kise

McFadden

et al. 2020

Plankton Benthos Res

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Sea pens are ecologically important habitats for associated marine organisms, serving as ecosystem engineers in sandy or muddy seafloor environments. In such areas, sea pens can form habitats with high population densities known as sea pen fields . However, the presence and importance of sea pen fields have not been well studied in shallow waters in East Asia. Here, we report a sea pen field of Virgularia sp. aff. gustaviana in the shallow waters of Ushibuka Marine Park, in the Amakusa Islands of southern Japan. The average colony numbers of the field across all depths (7-20 m) was 10.3 colonies/m 2 (live colonies) to 13.6 colonies/m 2 (all: live+dead colonies+holes), and the area of the sea pen field was at least ∼50,000 m 2 . At a depth of 15 m, the substratum consisted of sand and fallen leaves of terrestrial origin, and the highest sea pen density was observed (averages=17.2 live colonies/m 2 , =25.8 total (live+dead+holes) colonies/m 2 ). At a depth of 20 m, the substratum consisted of broken shells and rocks and had the lowest density (live colonies: average=0.8 colonies/m 2 , all: average=1.0 colonies/m 2 ). There were significant differences in colony number of Virgularia sp. aff. gustaviana between the sand , sand+leaves , and broken shells/rocks substrates. We hypothesize that the strength of the water currents caused by local geographic features and tidal movements produce suitable sedimentation and habitat for this species of sea pen. Therefore, we suggest that preserving the natural coastline is crucial to protect this and other sea pen fields in shallow waters and their benthic marine communities.

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The Classification, Diversity and Ecology of Shallow Water Octocorals

Cited by 16 publications

References 133 publications

Species Diversity and Secondary Metabolites of Sarcophyton-Associated Marine Fungi

Species Diversity and Secondary Metabolites of Sarcophyton-Associated Marine Fungi

Spatial and Short-Term Temporal Patterns of Octocoral Assemblages in the West Philippine Sea

A sea pen field in shallow water in the Amakusa Islands, southern Japan

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