Loss of Symbiodinium from bleached Australian scleractinian corals (Acropora hyacinthus, Favites complanata and Porites solida)
Kevin B. Strychar A B C D , Mike Coates A and Paul W. Sammarco BA School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Qld 4702, Australia.
B Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), 8124 Hwy 56, Chauvin, LA 70344, USA.
C Present address: Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H-4J1, Canada.
D Corresponding author. Email: strychar@dal.ca
Marine and Freshwater Research 55(2) 135-144 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF03080
Submitted: 4 June 2003 Accepted: 30 January 2004 Published: 31 March 2004
Abstract
Coral bleaching results from the dissociation of Symbiodinium and is primarily related to sea surface temperatures above mean yearly maximums. The numbers of live, dead, and mitotic Symbiodinium cells lost from three scleractinian corals from three different families (Acropora hyacinthus, Favites complanata, and Porites solida), which have not been studied previously in central Queensland (Australia), were compared at 28, 30, 32, and 34°C. Specific expulsion rates, growth rates, and mitotic indices were compared for each host at each temperature. Porites solida was the most robust coral, A. hyacinthus bleached more readily at low temperatures and F. complanata showed levels of intermediate bleaching tolerance to elevated temperatures. However, the timing of Symbiodinium cell loss was similar between all corals tested. Mitotic indices and specific growth rates were found to be positively associated with increasing temperature; thus, symbiont reproduction increased despite elevated losses of Symbiodinium from the host. Because all corals in the present study were symbiotic with Symbiodinium from clade C, different levels of stress tolerance to temperature suggests that bleaching resistance is an attribute associated with the coral host and, to a lesser degree, the symbiont.
Extra keywords: bleaching, growth rates, mitotic indices, specific expulsion rates, zooxanthellae.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) for licensing support and the Centre for Land and Water (CQU) for grants awarded to M. C. and T. J. P. to support this project. We also thank D. McKinnon and G. Matters for their untiring help with various aspects of the physiology experiments.
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