Symbiont acquisition in coral juveniles at different latitudes

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24570030
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: University of the Ryukyus
• Principal Investigator: Harii Saki 琉球大学, 熱帯生物圏研究センター, 准教授 (30334535)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): Frederic Sinniger 琉球大学, 熱帯生物圏研究センター, ポスドク研究員 (10625940) ; Seiji Arakaki 九州大学, 理学部, 助教 (10452963)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 造礁サンゴ類 / 共生褐虫藻 / 初期生活史 / 緯度勾配

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Reef building corals disperse to new environments through their planktonic larvae. During the larval stages corals acquire symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) from the environment. The pupose of this study was to study the symbiont acuisition in a context of poleward shift in distribution range, as is currently observed with global warming. We examined how coral develop symbiosis with different algae when transplanted in regions with different water temperature and light conditions. The results obtained suggest that juvenile corals originating from Okinawa and reaching temperate area such as Kochi can survive at least until three months. However, although temperate and tropical native adults harbor the same symbiont types, the symbionts acquire are different between juveniles grown in their original location and transplants. This finding suggest that more than species specific preferences, juvenile corals acquire mainly available types present in the environment.

Free Research Field

海洋生物学