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Living upside down: patterns of red coral settlement in a cave
Costantini, F.; Rugiu, L.; Cerrano, C.; Abbiati, M. (2018). Living upside down: patterns of red coral settlement in a cave. PeerJ 6: e4649. https://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4649
In: PeerJ. PeerJ: Corte Madera & London. e-ISSN 2167-8359, more
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors | Dataset 
Keywords
    Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Recruitment; Genetic diversity; Habitat preference; Submarine cave; Corallium rubrum; Growth rate
Authors  Top | Dataset 
  • Costantini, F.
  • Rugiu, L.
  • Cerrano, C.
  • Abbiati, M., more
Abstract

    Background

    Larval settlement and intra-specific interactions during the recruitment phase are crucial in determining the distribution and density of sessile marine populations. Marine caves are confined and stable habitats. As such, they provide a natural laboratory to study the settlement and recruitment processes in sessile invertebrates, including the valuable Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum. In the present study, the spatial and temporal variability of red coral settlers in an underwater cave was investigated by demographic and genetic approaches.

    Methods

    Sixteen PVC tiles were positioned on the walls and ceiling of the Colombara Cave, Ligurian Sea, and recovered after twenty months. A total of 372 individuals of red coral belonging to two different reproductive events were recorded. Basal diameter, height, and number of polyps were measured, and seven microsatellites loci were used to evaluate the genetic relationships among individuals and the genetic structure.

    Results

    Significant differences in the colonization rate were observed both between the two temporal cohorts and between ceiling and walls. No genetic structuring was observed between cohorts. Overall, high levels of relatedness among individuals were found.

    Conclusion

    The results show that C. rubrumindividuals on tiles are highly related at very small spatial scales, suggesting that nearby recruits are likely to be sibs. Self-recruitment and the synchronous settlement of clouds of larvae could be possible explanations for the observed pattern.

Dataset
  • Linares, Cristina; Figuerola, Laura; Gómez-Gras, Daniel; Pagès-Escolà, Marta; Olvera, Àngela, Aubach, Àlex; Amate, Roger; Figuerola, Blanca; Kersting, Diego; Ledoux, Jean-Baptiste; López-Sanz, Àngel; López-Sendino, Paula; Medrano, Alba; Garrabou, Joaquim; (2020); CorMedNet- Distribution and demographic data of habitat-forming invertebrate species from Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages between 1882 and 2019, more
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