Unusual symbiotic relationships between microendolithic phototrophic organisms and azooxanthellate cold-water corals from Chilean fjords

Mutualistic relationships of corals from warm, oligotrophic waters are best known with endocytic and scarcely with endolithic phototrophic organisms. We describe relationships of the microboring phototrophic green algaOstreobium queckettiiand the cyanobacteriumPlectonema terebranswith 2 species of s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine ecology. Progress series (Halstenbek) 2008-10, Vol.370, p.121-125
Main Authors: Foersterra, Guenter, Haeussermann, Verena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
Autotrophs
Caryophyllia
Coral reefs
Corals
Cyanophyta
Desmophyllum
Dianthus
Fjords
Infestation
Light
Marine
Ostreobium
Plectonema terebrans
Skeleton
Specimens
Symbiosis
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Summary:Mutualistic relationships of corals from warm, oligotrophic waters are best known with endocytic and scarcely with endolithic phototrophic organisms. We describe relationships of the microboring phototrophic green algaOstreobium queckettiiand the cyanobacteriumPlectonema terebranswith 2 species of strictly azooxanthellate corals from nutrient-rich cold waters.Desmophyllum dianthuswas originally described from lightless bathyal habitats and has only recently been discovered to form vast and dense shallow-water populations in the Chilean fjord region where it is associated withCaryophyllia huinayensis. The filamentous phototrophic endoliths were found to live on the surface and bore into the uppermost layer of the corallites. They are markedly denser on portions of the corallites which are covered by polyp tissue. The infestation of corals appears in the form of yellowish, greenish or brownish staining in the case ofO. queckettii, and pinkish to violet staining in the case ofP. terebrans. These characteristics suggest a putative facultative and mutualistic ectosymbiosis. Similar relationships between phototrophic endoliths andD. dianthusare indicated in specimens from New Zealand.
ISSN:0171-8630
1616-1599
DOI:10.3354/meps07630