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Coral Reef Ecology - Science topic
Explore the latest questions and answers in Coral Reef Ecology, and find Coral Reef Ecology experts.
Questions related to Coral Reef Ecology
How can instruments and systems for the conservation of nature, the biosphere, the highly biodiverse coral reef ecosystems of the seas and oceans be improved?
The ongoing process of global warming is also causing, among other things, an increase in the temperature of the seas and oceans. This increase in temperature and the increase in the scale of water pollution in the seas and oceans is causing the death of coral reefs, which have formed over millions of years and have developed the most biodiverse ecosystems of the seas and oceans.
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of researchers and scientists:
How can instruments and systems for the conservation of nature, of the biosphere, of the highly biodiverse coral reef ecosystems of the seas and oceans be improved?
What is your opinion on this?
What do you think about this topic?
Please reply,
I invite you all to discuss,
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz

This corals are Caryophyllia sp. the first was trawled near an outside seamount of central Tirrenian sea in deep water. it is rare. The second species was taken on Murella coralligenous bank in 45 m.



Dear researchers,
I need certain full name definition of my acropora coral. Can anyone help me?



Given that the DNA barcoding is not an effective tool to delineate interspecific divergence but intraspecific divergence between coral species (Shearer and Koffroth,2008), how accurate is the species level identification of corals based on DNA barcoding along with morphological identifications.
I know that the 'Target capture bait set' approach is highly efficient in delineating corals with very close relatedness, specially the Family Acroporidae (Cowman et al,. 2020)
That being said, can you state new records of coral species were identified (let's assume 5new records of Acropora corals in the vicinity of local waters) based on the DNA barcoding results?
Kindly requesting some expert knowledge on this topic.
I would be grateful if you could help me find out one or few case studies in the Pacific region where soil erosion in pineapple fields is efficiently managed. As part of a regional project (www.spc.int/resccue) dedicated to integrated coastal zone management in the Pacific region, I would like to identify few case studies where soil erosion in pineapple fields is correctly managed in order to organize a technical exchange between pineapple producers in French Polynesia and producers in other places of the Pacific region.
Many thanks for your answer.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you need further information.
Best,
Mr CHARLES mahe / RESCCUE project coordinator in French Polynesia
Ha logrado alguno críopreservar exitosamente los ovocitos de alguna especie de coral? Solamente he encontrado un caso para una gorgónea (Junceella juncea) por medio de vitrificación (Tsai et al. 2015, adjunto abajo). Se que algunos investigadores (comunicaciones personales) han logrado en algunos casos descongelarlas y reactivarlas después de realizar las inmersiones o el almacenamiento en nitrógeno líquido, sin embargo, pese a que los ovocitos salen 'vivos', estos pierden su capacidad de ser fertilizados (quedan infértiles).
Agradezco de antemano su apoyo y colaboración compartiendo sus respuestas y experiencia en este asunto.
Do you think ten years is enough to make any changes to coral erosion?
I am currently conducting a coral conservation project where we 1) rescue corals (loose and broken fragments/branches) 2) transplant on cement+glass plates in nursery site 3) send them back to natural site to recover damaged/patchy reefs.
My question is, are there any specific distances when placing corals from each other?
The 2 pictures below are some of the corals that we placed at the damaged and patchy reef site.
I would normally refer to reference sites to estimate suitable density of transplant and the distance from each other. But i'm not sure if it can be applicable at restoration sites to reduce competition/stresses among growing corals.
Appreciate the recommendations and comments

We are planning to inventory the black and red corals growing on the Mediterranean sea bottom. I read about various methods amongst them the use of ROV with Sea bottom imaging sensors and cameras.
How to efficiently inventory Precious corals (Black, Gold & red)?
What are the most efficient gears to use for sea bottom surveying such species?
An increase in the live coral cover is generally seen as a positive sign of resilience of a reef. However I feel that there is something beyond live coral cover. Please put in your comments/suggestions and any related articles.
It is experimentally proved that turf algae in combination with sediment prevents the settlement of coral larvae. My field observations are contradictory to it. I observed lot of new recruits on hard substrate which has been covered with turf algae and sediment. Is there any other factor which could aid the settlement of coral larvae on a turf algal substrate?
Hi, I am a starting my BS' senior year in a few months. The major of my study is molecular and cell biology, I also have a decent background of computational biology tools used for analyzing high throughput sequencing data.
I am interested in perusing my graduate studies at coral reef genomics, biotechnology of coral reef restoration, etc. The problem is I am confused somehow and do not know where to start from. Can anyone give me any advice that can help (Recommending a quality lab that works in the field, having the contacts of a professor that works on the field and maybe needs to recruit a masters or Ph.D. student, or recommending an online course or a textbook that would help me get the required knowledge)? Please, provide me with anything that you think may help. Thanks in advance.
Hi,
I had originally thought that distinguishing between fixed and random factors was relatively self explanatory, however, having read an article on this very subject, I am now not so certain.
The author's decision tree (see below), particularly the part stating that any factor with 2-4 levels 'must' be fixed left me especially confused.
"A) Can I talk you out of including it? (solved – drop it from the model)
A) No I can’t talk you out of it? too bad. Go to B
B) Is it a continuous variable or has only a few levels (e.g. 2-4) → has to be fixed
B) OK, a choice is possible – go to C.
C) Do you want estimates of s1, s2,…,sn (perhaps because you have lots of data and so lots degrees of freedom to burn and are curious how sites differ)? →Fixed
C) Do you want estimates of σ2, perhaps because it saves you degrees of freedom you really need or perhaps because the variance is more interesting (or useful for variance partitioning) than a bunch of estimates of site effects nobody will ever look at? go to D
D) can you either keep the design really simple or are willing to give up p-values→Random
D) You’re kind of out of luck. Change one of your answers and try again"
The article also links to a discussion regarding the recommended number of groups for a factor to be random, which conforms with much of what he has said in his article.
I'm no statistician, so much of this goes straight over my head.
For my particular research question, I'm looking at differences in the composition and abundance of fishes associated with three different coral colony states (live, dead, overgrown by a particular 'coral-killing' sponge species).
I've collected my data from 6 sites, split between two islands. I've also recorded the particular growth form of each coral colony.
To summarise, my factors are as follows:
Colony state (live, dead, overgrown)
Growth form (encrusting, submassive, columnar)
Site (6; nested in Island)
Island (2)
I had originally performed Permanova (in Primer7) using colony state and growth form as fixed factors, with site and island as random. However, as per the advice of the aforementioned articles, I tried again with all four factors as fixed, which produced very different results from my original design. I've tried other combinations of fixed/random, which again, produce very different results.
Basically I'm just looking for any advice as to the correct way to proceed with this, and if anyone could provide a more definitive answer with how to determine the appropriate effect for one's factors.
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
I would be interested to learn about other people's experiences with the use of spawning tiles to collect fish eggs from the field.
I know that some species of anemonefish, for instance, will readily deposit egg clutches on ceramic tiles when placed near their breeding site (e.g. Amphiprion percula or A. polymnus), while others do not (e.g. A. bicinctus or A. chrysopterus).
What other benthic breeding species is amenable to this approach?
Thanks very much!
Gerrit
We collected many fish eggs in a coral reef off the coast of Vietnam. Is that Scarus genus?

Dear researchers,
I am currently working on a project aiming to access the influences of a disturbance on coral reef fish assemblages.
As the title goes, I've encountered a major problem while computing FD indices.
I am going to compute Functional Richness, Functional Evenness, Functional Dispersion proposed by Dr. Sébastien Villéger at 2008.
However, the lack of enough species/functional entities in most of our observation makes FD indices computation impossible (The size of the assemblage in every observation is small, usually less than species).
Here are some details of our research method
The field survey method we applied is "modified Stationary Point Count (SPC)", apart from the usual SPC, I select a patch of coral (ranging from 20*20cm2 - 150*150cm2 ) as an object and record down the species either swim by from less than 1m above or crawling on it, as well as the abundance of those species for 6 minutes. And thus we usually encountered less than 3 species. Three treatments are there and for each treatment, we collect 10 data (10 observation).
I appreciate any comment and piece of advice on this topic and thank you in advance.
Best,
Yu-De
These two photos show two examples of holes in the scleractinian coral Porites astreoides. What organism is responsible for this? I tend to exclude a gall crab (Cryptochiridae), as they are not known to inhabit Porites. Maybe it indicates an epibiont like a cirripedian which cannot keep up with upward coral growth, but I only see these holes in this particular coral species.
Has anybody investigated this phenomenon?


I am currently working on a paper and I need to know if coral skeleton density actually does increase with depth for all coral species, if this is species-specific, or if this issue is still unknown. I am specifically talking about coral species that are found both in shallower water and at mesophotic depths. However, I would also like to know if depth specialist corals only found in deeper water have higher skeleton densities than shallower coral of different species. At the moment, I am only aware of 2 Caribbean studies (Baker and Weber 1975; Hughes 1987) that test this issue. Please let me know if you are aware of others or have any other insight. Thank you.
TL ~10cm. Perth coast, Western Australia, March 2016. I believe it may be a juvenile Spangled Emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus) or a closely related Lethrinid. I would like to have confirmation so it can be included in a soon-to-be-published book on the fishes of Rottnest Island. Any help with identification or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Last year in Bonaire (Dutch Caribbean) I encountered this strange colony of the scleractinean coral Siderastrea siderea. It has circular patches of a few cms across with smaller polyps, the smallest in the center. Has anybody seen this as well and what causes this strange growth?

TL ~16cm. Rottnest Island, Western Australia, May 2016. Depth 12m. I believe it is either Torquigener flavimaculosus or T. hicksi. I would like confirmation so it can be included in a soon-to-be-published book on the fishes of Rottnest Island. Any help with identification or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Since early 2015, on Bonaire (Dutch Caribbean), I sometimes encounter 'humps' on scleractinian corals.
They feel like cartilage or a hard gel and have a diameter of about 10-20 mm. The surface has a whitish-violet colour, possibly due to fine filaments. In cross sections some concentric layers may be recognized.
These humps were encountered on healthy corals (Orbicella faveolata, Agaricia agaricites), on morbid corals (Orbicella annularis, Siderastrea siderea), on dead coral next to live coral (Madracis auretenra) and on dead coral surfaces (unspecified), see enclosed photos.
Who has seen these humps as well and who knows what they are?





Anything about their recovery as a community, the succession in assemblage, and their function in the recovery of the reef as a whole.
Looking for marine scientific contacts all around India, especially people working in Coral and Mangrove Conservation? Who knows where institutes are located, where projects can be joined and supported ? Thank you very much for any help!
Recently my lab mate has collected this specimen from coral reef habitat of Gujarat state, located on western coast of India.
My snorkel buddy found this fish in a rocky habitat in Big fisherman's cove. It was hiding in the rocks in 2.5 meters of water in a shaded area. It has a orange head with foggy eyes, that reminded her of cataracts. When she got closer to take a picture the fish would raise its spines toward her. Pictures attached below. Thanks for the help we are really curious to know what it might be!





How can live coral cover (%) affects the coral reef fish biomass (gram/500m2) and the Vibrio density (cfu/microliter) according to depth (3m and 10m)
Dear Colleagues,
I manage to photograph this sea pen in a seagrass bed at 2-3 m depth from Kuwait, Arabian Gulf. Could anyone help in the identification?
Best Regards,
M. Nithyanandan
My colleague and I are studying the use of natural materials such as bamboo, mahogany and coconut tree as a substitute to the usual cement module.
I'm making a thesis about Marine protected areas and how effective they are at preserving coral reefs. What would be good factors to consider regarding the health of the reef and the overall health of the ecosystem?
The photos of the soft corals are below, together with their corresponding sclerites. The samples were collected around Mauritius.
My colleague and I conducting a research proposal about using natural materials such as mahogany, bamboo and coconut tree as modules in coral transplantation of Pocillopora verrucosa.
Good morning.
My name is Mada Triandala Sibero. I'm student from Diponegoro University.
I'm a beginner in marine science field especially for sponge identification.
I got this sponge as my sample. According to the shape, it supposed to be Cinachyra sp., but according to spicules identification I don't find any journals shows the Cinachyra sp. has spicules like star shape.
I really need an explanation according to my result. And please correct me if there is any miss understanding.
I really hope there is someone in here could help me.
Thank you very much.


As per the available literature, it is evident that increased PAR triggers coral bleaching which is further exaggerated by temperature by preventing the recovery mechanism. My doubt is, whether the corals will bleach only under the conditions of increased temperature while the PAR levels are optimum? Please put in your views, comments and suggestions.
Please suggest me some articles on Oceanographic processes on coral reefs. I'm looking for articles that describes in detail the influence of oceanographic processes on coral reef processes, in general and not specific to any particular reef.
Conducting experiment on differences in biodiversity of micro-atolls between day/night. I am wondering when conducting the shannon index if I should remove species that remained the same in numbers. For example coral and rock boring urchins remained the same. Thanks for any help!
Oxybenzone is a highly damaging chemical with multiple damaging effects on coral reef populations. Present in many sunscreens and cosmetic products, it is however poorly legislated. An exception is Akumal, Mexico, where its use has been banned. However, no scholarly articles seem to be available comparing the relative health of the coral populations before and after the ban was made.
Hello, I am not sure what kind of disease is presenting this coral, can somebody help me to identify it. Thank you!
Hello
I want to identify some species from soft corals.
primarily i want to know any parts in anatomy and morphological features that knowing of them are necessary for identification, such as:surface coenenchyme, interior coenenchyme, polyp walls, calyces, anthocodiae, tentacles, crown, points , polyp armatures and sclerites
i want to know these names refers for which part of octocorals.
please help me to find a useful source for these
thanks a lot
So far I cannot decide which is the best material between PVC and galvanized steel for an artificial structure in seawater based on literature. Both seem to be non toxic and quite corrosion resistant. What do you think from your experiences?
Could you help to identify the species? It was found in coraI reef of Paracel Islands. I appreciate your help very much.

I have data on coral juveniles density along with live coral cover, hard substratum cover and macroalgal cover from 6 study sites categorized in to 3 groups based on anthropogenic pressure viz. severe, moderate and low. I want to explore the extent to which the coral juvenile density is associated/influenced with/by the live coral, hard substratum and macroalgal cover. I tried multiple regression analysis. But my data fails to meet the assumptions of multiple regression analysis that there exists a negative correlation/no correlation between the juvenile coral density and other 3 parameters individually.Could anyone suggest me the best statistical method to explore it?
According to Rebecca Albright and her co-scientists it is possible to estimate that the reversal of 'Ocean acidification' will enhance net coral reef calcification: "The fractional uptake of added alkalinity was calculated according to equation (1) and averaged for all control and experimental days.
Using this method, we estimate that an average of 17.3% ± 2.3%
(1 s.e.m.) of the experimentally added alkalinity was taken up by the
reef community."
But this is not a measured estimate, it is a modelled estimate, and there is no validation of results. The paper is found here:
What is the minimum of fish target biomass in the reef to say the fish population is healthy?
I am using Hyperion data for Coral Reefs extraction. Nine different types of classes (Coral Reef) I am intended to define and classify the Hyperion image accordingly using OBIA method. How to define different rules for these classes in eCognition software??
Classes would be, Outer Reef flat, Deeper Reef flat, Inner reef flat, Exposed Reef flat, Exposed Reef flat-Algae and so on.
Any recommendations for a sponge taxonomist? I really need help and suggestions for the identification of mangrove-associated sponges. Thank you!
I am doing a niche modelling in a global scale for a shallow water coral specie, therefore I need a good resolution for bathymetry data close to the shore in a big scale.
I am using ETOPO1, but it returns wrong results when estimating seafloor grid in shallow waters, probably because it uses nearby soundings both as constraints and to save gravity-bathymetry relationships.
So I was thinking about using a interpolation method to artificially get a higher resolution data set that represents better the coral niche. But I am not sure if this would work as I expect and what interpolation method I should use. Can anyone help me with that?
I am currently working on secondary metabolites from fire corals (Millepora spp.). Unfortunately, I am having difficulty at getting this particular sample identified to the species level. Checking the known Millepora species found in this part of the world, the closest match is M. dichotoma. This sample was collected in the Philippines. Can I request for expert assistance with taxonomic identification, if possible. I have included some photos of the animal. Thanks in advance.
This coral is from Northeastern Brazil.


This photo was taken on Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean. It shows a Bicolor damsel Stegastes partitus with a parasite on its eye. I guess it is an isopod. The isopod Anilocra partiti is known from this damselfish species, but it is supposed to attach under the eye. Also it should be coloured black to slate gray (Kensley & Schotte 1989).
Maybe this is a small male A. partiti isopod before sex, colour and host location changes. But it might as well be another species.
Does anybody know?

Specifically Chlorurus gibbus & Scarus niger.
If not in the Red Sea, any other locality could be helpfull.
Thank you!
I would like to keep the coral samples alive for Zooxanthellae and DNA extraction purposes
My colleagues are working on feeding preferences of macro symbionts of feather stars. They gathered data on stable isotopes from both sea lilies and its symbionts(shrimps, crabs, ,polychaetes, myzostomida etc). The results are quite surprising and not easy to interpret, so we want to have some reference points. Some people (who work with stable isotopes) advise us, that it might be more useful to collect data on primary consumers (not primary producents) from our area to have such a reference point.
But than we realized, that it is not an easy task to find really specialized primary consumer on the coral reef, as there is little known about food spectrum of most coral reefs inhabitant and many of them are mixotrophic.
Could it be be Leptastrea inequalis? It is collected from a partially exposed rocky shore.
The waterpik generates large amounts of water making it difficult to freeze small amounts of samples in the field. How do I remove only the tissue and symbionts of coral while preserving the material for isotope analysis?
What waterpik do you recommend?
how long it takes for the removal of 20 cm2?
Has anyone have already seen Pocillopora verrucosa and meandrina spawning larvae?
I am interested to quantify percentage of recent coral bleaching and bleaching severity in some small fringing and patch reef in the Arabian sea. Please suggest me.
Hi all,
this white snapping shrimp was collected from bottom gill nets by traditional fishermen, east coast of India and was found alive with a soft coral. Looking at it from the eye and the hairy uropod, we found it to be close to Synalpheus neomeris (de Man, 1897). Need confirmation from experts working on snapping shrimp groups.
Best regards
Deepak

I just try the Acropora coral, if it is more than acropora, i would like to know
Photograph taken during underwater survey in West Coast of India. At 20m depth.

I'm trying to determine some preliminary distribution info for a few soft coral species that may cross over from temperate to tropical waters. I'm particularly interested in Telesto sanguinea, Leptagorgia virgulata, L. hebes. Have you seen them further south than mid-Florida and if so where did you locate them? Also, have you seen them in the Gulf of Mexico?
Thanks!
The color of the Coral specimen is white with very minute pores around the body with irregular horizontal lines . Certain type of Barnacles are also attached over it along with a tube building polychaeta shell (broken). Is this a non photosynthetic type of coral ?


