Competitive interactions among zoanthids (cnidaria: zoanthidae) in an intertidal zone of northeastern Brazil

Rabelo, Emanuelle Fontenele; Soares, Marcelo de Oliveira; Matthews-Cascon, Helena

Abstracts

Sessile organisms that live in consolidated substrates frequently compete for space. Coral species have many strategies to face this competition, including harming their opponents or hindering their growth. In the present study, the competitive interactions between three species of zoanthids were investigated in the intertidal zone of a sandstone reef environment in northeastern Brazil. The competitive abilities of the three species were evaluated by periodic observation of the natural fringes of contact and experimental evaluation of their growth rate through removal of 100 cm² of colonies of each species. Palythoa caribaeorum and Zoanthus sociatus had similar growth rates, and both species grew faster than Protopalythoa variabilis. The recolonization strategy seems to differ among species. The contact fringes between P. caribaeorum and Z. sociatus remained unchanged over time, without any type of aggressive interaction between them, suggesting that stand-off was the strategy used by these organisms. Palythoa caribaeorum and Z. sociatus grew among the polyps of P. variabilis, often killing its colonies. The coexistence of zoanthids reveals a capacity for survival in the face of competition for limited resources such as free substrate, which led to the colonization and establishment of zoanthids in intertidal environments.

Zoanthids; Competition; Growth rate; Coexistence

A competição por espaço é comum em organismos sésseis que vivem em substrato consolidado. Os corais apresentam muitas estratégias para competição por espaço, incluindo danos ao oponente ou inibição do crescimento. No presente estudo, as interações competitivas entre três espécies de zoantídeos foram investigadas em um ambiente de recifes de arenito no nordeste brasileiro. As habilidades competitivas dos zoantídeos foram analisadas por observações periódicas das margens de contato entre as colônias em ambiente natural e avaliação experimental da taxa de crescimento, através da remoção de uma área de 100 cm² de colônias de cada espécie. Palythoa caribaeorum e Zoanthus sociatus apresentaram taxa de crescimento similar, crescendo mais rápido que Protopalythoa variabilis. A estratégia de colonização parece ser diferente entre as espécies. As margens de contato entre P. caribaeorum e Z. sociatus permaneceram inalteradas ao longo do tempo, sem qualquer interação agressiva entre as colônias, sugerindo que a inibição do crescimento foi a estratégia utilizada. Palythoa caribaeorum e Z. sociatus cresceram entre os pólipos de P. variabilis, muitas vezes sufocando e matando suas colônias. A coexistência entre os zoantídeos revela uma capacidade de sobrevivência frente a recursos limitados, como substrato livre, o que levou ao sucesso na colonização e estabelecimento de zoantídeos em ambientes intertidais.

Zoantídeos; Competição; Taxa de crescimento; Coexistência

ABDO, D. A.; MCDONALD, J. I.; HARVEY, E. S; FROMONT, J.; KENDRICK G. A. Neighbour and environmental influences on the growth patterns of two temperate Haliclonid sponge. Mar. Freshwater. Res, v.59, n. 4, p. 304-312, 2008.
ABELSON A.; LOYA, Y. Interspecific aggression among stony corals in Eilat, Red Sea: A hierarchy of aggression ability and related parameters. Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 3, n. 65, p. 851-860, 1999.
ALINO, P. M.; SAMMARCO, P. W.; COLL, J. C. Competitive strategies in soft corals (Coelenterata, Octocorallia). IV. Environmentally induced reversals in competitive superiority. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 81, p. 129-145, 1992.
BAK, R. P. M.; TERMAAT, R. M.; DEKKER, R. Complexity of coral interactions: Influence of time, location of interaction and epifauna. Mar. Biol., v. 69, p. 215-222, 1982.
BASTIDAS, C.; BONE, D. Competitive strategies between Palythoa caribaeorum and Zoanthus sociatus (Cnidaria:Anthozoa) at a reef flat environmental in Venezuela. Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 59, n. 3, p. 543-555, 1996.
CHADWICK, N. E. Spatial distribution and the effects of competition on some temperate Scleractinia and corallimorpharia. Mar. Ecol.Prog. Ser., v. 70, p. 39-48, 1991.
CONNELL, J. H.; HUGHES, T. P.; WALLACE, C. C.; TANNER, J. E.; HARMS, K. E.; KERR, A. M. A long-term study of competition and diversity of corals. Ecol. Monogr, v. 74, n. 2, p. 179-210, 2004.
CORNELL, H. V.; KARLSON, R. H. Coral species richness: ecological versus biogeographical influences. Coral Reefs, v. 19, p. 37-49, 2000.
DAI, C. Interspecific competition in Taiwanese corals with special reference to interactions between alcyonaceans and scleratinians. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 60, p. 291-297, 1990.
FINE, M.; LOYA, F. Alternate coral-bryozoan competitive superiority during coral bleaching. Mar. Biol, v. 142, p. 989-996, 2003.
FRANK, U.; BRICKNER, I.; RINKEVICH, B.; LOYA, Y.; BAK, R. P. M.; ACHITUV, Y.; ILAN, M. Allogeneic and xenogeneic interaction in reef-building corals may induce tissue growth without calcification. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 124, p. 181-188, 1995.
HARPER, M. K.; BUGNI, T. S.; COPP, B. R.; JAMES, R. D.; LINDSAY, B. S.; RICHARDSON, A. D.; SCHNABEL, P. C.; TASDEMIR, D.; VANWAGONER, R. M.; VERBITSKI, S. M.; IRELAND, C. M. Introduction to the Chemical Ecology of Marine Natural Products in J. B. McClintock and B. J. Baker (eds.), Marine Chemical Ecology, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2001, pp. 3-69.
JACKSON, J. B. C.; BUSS, L. Allelopathy and spatial competition among coral reef invertebrates. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., n. 12, v. 72, p. 5160-5163, 1975.
KARLSON, R. H. Predation and space utilization patterns in a marine epifaunal community. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol, v. 31, p. 225-239, 1978
KARLSON, R. H. Alternative competitive strategies in a periodically disturbed habitat. Bull. Mar. Sci., v. 30, n. 4, p. 894-900, 1980.
KARLSON, R. H. Size-dependent growth in two zoanthid species: a contrast in clonal strategies. Ecology, v. 69, n. 4, p. 1219-1232, 1988.
KAUL P. N.; FARMER M. R.; CIERESZKO L. S. Pharmacology of palytoxin: The most potent marine toxin known. P. W. Pharmacol. Soc, v. 17, p. 294, 1974.
LANG, J. Interspecific aggression by scleractinian corals. 2: Why the race is not only to the swift. Coral Reefs, v. 23, n. 2, p.260-279, 1973.
LUTER, H. M.; DUCKWORTH, A. R. Influence of size and spatial competition on the bioactivity of coral reef sponges. Biochem. Syst. Ecol., v. 38, p. 146-153, 2010.
MAIDA, M.; SAMMARCO, P. W.; COLL, J. C. Effects of soft corals on scleractinian coral recruitment. I. Directional allelopathy and inhibition of settlement. Mar. Ecol.Prog. Ser., v. 121, p. 191-202, 1995.
MATTHEWS-CASCON, H., LOTUFO, T. M. C. Biota marinha da costa oeste do Ceará. Brasília: Ministério do Meio Ambiente, 2006. 248 p.
MORAIS, J. O.; IRION, G. F.; PINHEIRO, L. S.; KASBOHM, J. Preliminary results on Holocene sea-level changes on Ceara coast / Brazil. J. Coast. Res, v. 56, p. 646-649, 2009.
RINKEVICH, B.; SAKAI, K. Interspecific interactions among spacies of the coral genus Porites from Okinawa, Japan. Zoology, v. 104, p. 91-97, 2001
RINKEVICH, B. Allorecognition and xenorecognition in reef corals: a decade of interactions. Hydrobiologia, v. 530-531, p. 443-450, 2004.
ROMANO, S. L. Long-term effects of interspecific aggression on growth of the reef-building corals Cyphastrea ocelina (Dana) and Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus). J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol, v. 140, p. 135-146, 1990.
SAMMARCO, P. W.; COLL J. C.; BARRE, S. L. Competitive strategies of soft corals (Coelenterate: Octocorallia). II. Variable defensive responses and susceptibility to Secleractinian corals. J. Exp. Mar. Bio. Ecol., v. 91, p. 199-215, 1985.
SANDIM, S. A.; MCNAMARA, D. E. Spatial dynamics of benthic competition on coral reefs. Oecologia, v. 168, p. 1079-1090, 2012.
SEBENS, K. P. Intertidal distribuition of Zoanthids on the Caribbean Coast of Panama: Effects of predation and desiccation. Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 32, n. 1, p. 316-335, 1982.
SHENKAR, N.; LOYA, Y. The solitary ascidian Herdmania momus: native (Red Sea) versus non-indigenous (Mediterranean) populations. Biol. Invasions, v. 10, n. 8, p. 1431-1439, 2008.
SHENKAR, N.; BRONSTEIN, O.; LOYA, Y. Population dynamics of a coral reef ascidian in a deteriorating environment. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, v. 367, p. 163-171, 2008.
SHEPPARD, C. R. C. Interspecific aggression between reef corals with reference to their distribution. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, v. 1, p. 237-247, 1979.
SHEPPARD, C. R. C. Unoccupied substrate in the central Great Barrier Reef: role of coral interactions. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, v. 25, p. 259-268, 1985.
SUCHANEK, T. H.; GREEN, D. J. Interspecific competition between Palythoa caribaeorum and other sessile invertebrates on St. Croix Reefs, U.S. Virgin Islands. INT. CORAL REEF SYMP., 4. Proc..., v. 2, p. 679-684, 1981.
TANNER, J. E. The effects of density on the zoanthid Palythoa caesia J. An. Ecol, v. 66, p. 793-810, 1997.
TURNER, S. J.; TODD, C. D. Competition for Space in encrusting bryozoan assemblages: the influence of encounter angle, site and year. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK, v. 74, . 3, p. 603-622, 1994.
VAN VEGHEL, M. L. J.; CLEARY, D. F. R.; BAK, R. P. M. Interspecific interactions and competitive ability of the reef-building coral Montastrea annularis Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 58, n. 3, p. 792-803, 1996.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
17 Apr 2013
Date of issue
Mar 2013

History

Received
27 Aug 2012
Accepted
04 Feb 2013
Reviewed
03 Feb 2013

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

[1] ABDO, D. A.; MCDONALD, J. I.; HARVEY, E. S; FROMONT, J.; KENDRICK G. A. Neighbour and environmental influences on the growth patterns of two temperate Haliclonid sponge. Mar. Freshwater. Res, v.59, n. 4, p. 304-312, 2008.

[2] ABELSON A.; LOYA, Y. Interspecific aggression among stony corals in Eilat, Red Sea: A hierarchy of aggression ability and related parameters. Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 3, n. 65, p. 851-860, 1999.

[3] ALINO, P. M.; SAMMARCO, P. W.; COLL, J. C. Competitive strategies in soft corals (Coelenterata, Octocorallia). IV. Environmentally induced reversals in competitive superiority. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 81, p. 129-145, 1992.

[4] BAK, R. P. M.; TERMAAT, R. M.; DEKKER, R. Complexity of coral interactions: Influence of time, location of interaction and epifauna. Mar. Biol., v. 69, p. 215-222, 1982.

[5] BASTIDAS, C.; BONE, D. Competitive strategies between Palythoa caribaeorum and Zoanthus sociatus (Cnidaria:Anthozoa) at a reef flat environmental in Venezuela. Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 59, n. 3, p. 543-555, 1996.

[6] CHADWICK, N. E. Spatial distribution and the effects of competition on some temperate Scleractinia and corallimorpharia. Mar. Ecol.Prog. Ser., v. 70, p. 39-48, 1991.

[7] CONNELL, J. H.; HUGHES, T. P.; WALLACE, C. C.; TANNER, J. E.; HARMS, K. E.; KERR, A. M. A long-term study of competition and diversity of corals. Ecol. Monogr, v. 74, n. 2, p. 179-210, 2004.

[8] CORNELL, H. V.; KARLSON, R. H. Coral species richness: ecological versus biogeographical influences. Coral Reefs, v. 19, p. 37-49, 2000.

[9] DAI, C. Interspecific competition in Taiwanese corals with special reference to interactions between alcyonaceans and scleratinians. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 60, p. 291-297, 1990.

[10] FINE, M.; LOYA, F. Alternate coral-bryozoan competitive superiority during coral bleaching. Mar. Biol, v. 142, p. 989-996, 2003.

[11] FRANK, U.; BRICKNER, I.; RINKEVICH, B.; LOYA, Y.; BAK, R. P. M.; ACHITUV, Y.; ILAN, M. Allogeneic and xenogeneic interaction in reef-building corals may induce tissue growth without calcification. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 124, p. 181-188, 1995.

[12] HARPER, M. K.; BUGNI, T. S.; COPP, B. R.; JAMES, R. D.; LINDSAY, B. S.; RICHARDSON, A. D.; SCHNABEL, P. C.; TASDEMIR, D.; VANWAGONER, R. M.; VERBITSKI, S. M.; IRELAND, C. M. Introduction to the Chemical Ecology of Marine Natural Products in J. B. McClintock and B. J. Baker (eds.), Marine Chemical Ecology, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2001, pp. 3-69.

[13] JACKSON, J. B. C.; BUSS, L. Allelopathy and spatial competition among coral reef invertebrates. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., n. 12, v. 72, p. 5160-5163, 1975.

[14] KARLSON, R. H. Predation and space utilization patterns in a marine epifaunal community. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol, v. 31, p. 225-239, 1978

[15] KARLSON, R. H. Alternative competitive strategies in a periodically disturbed habitat. Bull. Mar. Sci., v. 30, n. 4, p. 894-900, 1980.

[16] KARLSON, R. H. Size-dependent growth in two zoanthid species: a contrast in clonal strategies. Ecology, v. 69, n. 4, p. 1219-1232, 1988.

[17] KAUL P. N.; FARMER M. R.; CIERESZKO L. S. Pharmacology of palytoxin: The most potent marine toxin known. P. W. Pharmacol. Soc, v. 17, p. 294, 1974.

[18] LANG, J. Interspecific aggression by scleractinian corals. 2: Why the race is not only to the swift. Coral Reefs, v. 23, n. 2, p.260-279, 1973.

[19] LUTER, H. M.; DUCKWORTH, A. R. Influence of size and spatial competition on the bioactivity of coral reef sponges. Biochem. Syst. Ecol., v. 38, p. 146-153, 2010.

[20] MAIDA, M.; SAMMARCO, P. W.; COLL, J. C. Effects of soft corals on scleractinian coral recruitment. I. Directional allelopathy and inhibition of settlement. Mar. Ecol.Prog. Ser., v. 121, p. 191-202, 1995.

[21] MATTHEWS-CASCON, H., LOTUFO, T. M. C. Biota marinha da costa oeste do Ceará. Brasília: Ministério do Meio Ambiente, 2006. 248 p.

[22] MORAIS, J. O.; IRION, G. F.; PINHEIRO, L. S.; KASBOHM, J. Preliminary results on Holocene sea-level changes on Ceara coast / Brazil. J. Coast. Res, v. 56, p. 646-649, 2009.

[23] RINKEVICH, B.; SAKAI, K. Interspecific interactions among spacies of the coral genus Porites from Okinawa, Japan. Zoology, v. 104, p. 91-97, 2001

[24] RINKEVICH, B. Allorecognition and xenorecognition in reef corals: a decade of interactions. Hydrobiologia, v. 530-531, p. 443-450, 2004.

[25] ROMANO, S. L. Long-term effects of interspecific aggression on growth of the reef-building corals Cyphastrea ocelina (Dana) and Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus). J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol, v. 140, p. 135-146, 1990.

[26] SAMMARCO, P. W.; COLL J. C.; BARRE, S. L. Competitive strategies of soft corals (Coelenterate: Octocorallia). II. Variable defensive responses and susceptibility to Secleractinian corals. J. Exp. Mar. Bio. Ecol., v. 91, p. 199-215, 1985.

[27] SANDIM, S. A.; MCNAMARA, D. E. Spatial dynamics of benthic competition on coral reefs. Oecologia, v. 168, p. 1079-1090, 2012.

[28] SEBENS, K. P. Intertidal distribuition of Zoanthids on the Caribbean Coast of Panama: Effects of predation and desiccation. Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 32, n. 1, p. 316-335, 1982.

[29] SHENKAR, N.; LOYA, Y. The solitary ascidian Herdmania momus: native (Red Sea) versus non-indigenous (Mediterranean) populations. Biol. Invasions, v. 10, n. 8, p. 1431-1439, 2008.

[30] SHENKAR, N.; BRONSTEIN, O.; LOYA, Y. Population dynamics of a coral reef ascidian in a deteriorating environment. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, v. 367, p. 163-171, 2008.

[31] SHEPPARD, C. R. C. Interspecific aggression between reef corals with reference to their distribution. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, v. 1, p. 237-247, 1979.

[32] SHEPPARD, C. R. C. Unoccupied substrate in the central Great Barrier Reef: role of coral interactions. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, v. 25, p. 259-268, 1985.

[33] SUCHANEK, T. H.; GREEN, D. J. Interspecific competition between Palythoa caribaeorum and other sessile invertebrates on St. Croix Reefs, U.S. Virgin Islands. INT. CORAL REEF SYMP., 4. Proc..., v. 2, p. 679-684, 1981.

[34] TANNER, J. E. The effects of density on the zoanthid Palythoa caesia J. An. Ecol, v. 66, p. 793-810, 1997.

[35] TURNER, S. J.; TODD, C. D. Competition for Space in encrusting bryozoan assemblages: the influence of encounter angle, site and year. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK, v. 74, . 3, p. 603-622, 1994.

[36] VAN VEGHEL, M. L. J.; CLEARY, D. F. R.; BAK, R. P. M. Interspecific interactions and competitive ability of the reef-building coral Montastrea annularis Bull. Mar. Sci, v. 58, n. 3, p. 792-803, 1996.

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Competitive interactions among zoanthids (cnidaria: zoanthidae) in an intertidal zone of northeastern Brazil

Abstracts

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History