基于18S rDNA条形码技术的珊瑚礁区塔形马蹄螺(Tectus pyramis)食性分析

塔形马蹄螺(Tectuspyramis)是一种暖水性较强的海洋贝类,也是一种重要的礁栖生物,研究其自然环境中的食物组成对于认识其生态功能具有重要意义,但由于缺少直接的食物组成信息,对其食性和生态功能定位尚不明确。本研究于2017年春季在南沙珊瑚礁区采集了塔形马蹄螺样品,以18S rDNA可变区(V4)序列为靶标,用高通量测序技术分析了其现场食物组成。共测得41个OTU,分属11个门类,包括节肢动物门(Arthropoda)、子囊菌门(Ascomycota)、担子菌门(Basidiomycota)、丝足虫门(Cercozoa)、刺胞动物门(Cnidaria)、Stramenopiles(不等鞭毛类)、网粘菌门(Labyrinthulomycota)、软体动物门(Mollusca)、多孔动物门(Porifera)、甲藻门(Pyrrophyta)、捕虫霉亚门(Zoopagomycota)。与以往研究不同的是,本研究发现塔形马蹄螺消化道中存在大量沉积物碎屑,其中有孔虫、真菌、后生动物是最重要的类群,占食物序列组成的99.76%,它们主要存在于海洋沉积物、有机碎屑和礁石表生藻类基质(Epilithic algal matrix, EAM)中。研究结果揭示了塔形马蹄螺的食物主要来源于EAM中的小型生物和碎屑以及珊瑚礁石上的有害生物,推测塔形马蹄螺属于沉积物碎屑食性生物,可能在清除珊瑚表面藻类基质、促进珊瑚幼体附着过程中发挥一定的作用,对于维护珊瑚生态系统的健康和稳定具有积极意义。     

近江牡蛎(Crassostrea ariakensis)规模化人工育苗及养成

近江牡蛎(Crassostreaariakensis)为广温、广盐分布的河口区大型种,曾在中国南北方河口区都有分布。由于近岸河口环境的变化,在中国北方河口区一度难以寻觅,甚至被认为濒临灭绝。利用黄河三角洲区域滨州、东营主要河口近江牡蛎资源,借助南方丰富的淡水资源,在福建宁德迅速开展了近江牡蛎的规模化人工育苗工作,总计获得了1092万粒种苗。在近江牡蛎原产地滨州进行中间培养及海上养成,在长牡蛎主养海区山东乳山进行转场育肥试养并获得初步成功。与同期养殖的长牡蛎相比,近江牡蛎的氨基酸种类及含量无明显差异,且生长速度快,这些特点将有助于推动其成为我国北方沿海的牡蛎养殖新品种。规模化育苗及养殖还有助于降低对野生近江牡蛎资源的采捕需求,对其资源的保护、牡蛎礁的恢复重构能够起到促进作用。     

涠洲岛珊瑚礁近千年的发育过程及其对气候变化的响应*

高纬度珊瑚栖息地能否成为气候变暖背景下热带珊瑚物种的“避难所”仍不明确, 南海北部的相关研究更是稀少。本文以取自涠洲岛的2根珊瑚礁沉积岩心为研究对象, 通过U-Th定年、沉积组分分析以及珊瑚种属鉴定等方法, 探讨近千年以来珊瑚礁的发育过程及其对气候变化的响应。研究结果发现, Core1(石螺口)岩心沉积的3个快速堆积阶段分别与罗马暖期、中世纪暖期和现代暖期大致对应; 而2个缓慢堆积阶段则分别与黑暗时代冷期和小冰期大致对应, 证实了温暖的气候对珊瑚礁发育有促进作用, 而寒冷的气候则不利于珊瑚礁的发育; 此外, 现代强烈的人为干扰可能也导致了涠洲岛珊瑚礁的迅速退化。Core2(南湾)中陆源沉积含量高, 珊瑚年龄主要集中在800AD—950AD和现代这两个时间段内, 其原因可能与环境变化、风暴作用及湾内现代珊瑚分布特征有关。通过对比这两个站位的珊瑚礁沉积特征, 本文进一步提出“完全避难所”和“非完全避难所”的概念, 揭示涠洲岛珊瑚可能同时具有低纬度热带珊瑚礁和高纬度珊瑚群落这两种发育特征和趋势。     

三种放流方式对许氏平鲉分布模式的影响

由于海洋环境污染及过度捕捞造成渔业资源不断衰退,人工增殖放流已成为修复水生生物资源的重要途径。安全有效的放流方式对增殖放流实践的成功与否起着至关重要的作用。本文采用行为学方法,对体长(4.5±0.5)cm,体重(3.5±0.5)g的许氏平鲉(Sebastes schlegelii)在实验室水槽的行为特性进行观察,分别记录了在无礁(对照组)和有礁条件下,保护装置、滑道和直接放流三种方式对许氏平鲉分布模式的影响。实验发现,在保护装置放流方式下许氏平鲉在放流有效区的数量显著多于滑道和直接放流两种方式。有人工鱼礁时,许氏平鲉幼鱼在放流有效区的分布率明显高于对照组。实验结果表明,保护装置放流方式对许氏平鲉的应激性最小,结合人工鱼礁的生态效应,能够有效地提高增殖放流效果。     

三亚蜈支洲岛两种造礁石珊瑚的生理特征

随着旅游开发和人类活动的加强,三亚蜈支洲岛南北两侧珊瑚礁区呈现出截然不同的水质环境状况和珊瑚群落分布。本研究通过分析三亚蜈支洲岛南北两侧两种造礁石珊瑚——丛生盔形珊瑚(Galaxea fascicularis)和疣状杯形珊瑚(Pocillopora verrucosa)的生理特征,旨在分析造礁石珊瑚应对水质环境变化的响应机制和应对策略。研究结果发现:两种珊瑚的生理指标表现出明显的南北区域差异。与南侧相比,北侧珊瑚的蛋白质含量显著性降低,SOD活性显著性的升高,表明北侧珊瑚抗氧化系统受到应激胁迫反应,而南侧珊瑚的生理状态更好。南、北两侧中丛生盔形珊瑚的生物量和能量物质含量有显著差异性,虫黄藻密度差异不显著;而疣状杯形珊瑚生物量和能量物质含量差异不显著,但其虫黄藻密度差异显著;表明丛生盔形珊瑚与疣状杯形珊瑚面对胁迫环境时,两者的能量代谢应激策略不同。因此,三亚蜈支洲岛南北两侧开发状况、水质环境的差异导致珊瑚生理状态呈现南北差异。     

2009—2017年南沙群岛珊瑚礁砾洲演变

通过对南沙群岛永暑礁、西门礁和安达礁3个砾洲结合现场实测数字高度模型（DEM）的遥感影像分析,重建了2011（2009）、2013、2015、2017年4个时段的砾洲DEM,分析揭示出珊瑚礁砾洲不同时段的地形地貌特征及其演变过程。结果显示：2009—2017年间,安达礁砾洲以侵蚀为主,砾洲不断缩小,平均高度、面积和体积呈下降趋势;2011—2017年间,永暑礁砾洲以水平和垂直加积为主,砾洲不断扩大增高,平均高度、面积和体积呈增长趋势;西门礁砾洲以水平加积为主,面积呈增大趋势,而平均高度呈下降趋势,体积变化趋势不明显。2011—2017年间,永暑礁和西门礁砾洲呈现向东或东南礁坪内侧潟湖方向的移动,而安达礁砾洲2009—2017年间则向西北方向礁坪外侧移动,移动距离明显大于永暑礁和西门礁砾洲。3个砾洲的演变主要受季风浪和台风浪的控制,表现为砾洲缩减向礁坪外侧迁移和砾洲扩展向礁坪内侧潟湖迁移的2种不同演变模式,这与砾洲各自所在礁坪在珊瑚环礁中的位置,以及礁坪形态造成的礁坪水动力环境的差异有关。南沙群岛珊瑚礁砾洲地貌的演变为深入研究南海珊瑚礁灰沙岛地貌发育演化及动力机制提供了重要的科学基础。     

The initiation of the southern central Great Barrier Reef: New multiproxy data from Pleistocene distal sediments from the Marion Plateau (NE Australia)

Significant synchronous shifts in the chemistry, mineralogy, grain sizes and color of the sediments at 6 m below sea floor (mbsf) at ODP Site 1195 on the Marion Plateau (NE Australia) are interpreted to reflect a major regional paleoceanographic change: the initiation of the southern province of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The onset of this massive carbonate production centre nearby resulted primarily in increased deposition of carbonate-rich sediments of neritic origin. Both sedimentation rate and terrigenous input record a coincident decline attributed to inshore trapping of materials behind the reefs. Our best estimate places the development of reef framework in the southern part of the GBR between 560 and 670 kyr B.P., based on an age model combining magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data. The proposed estimation agrees with previous studies reporting an age between 500 and 930 kyr B.P., constraining more tightly their results. However, it does not support research placing the birth of the GBR in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 ( 400 kyr), nor the theory of a worldwide modern barrier reef development at that time.     

An analysis of sponge diversity and distribution at three taxonomic levels in the Thousand Islands/Jakarta Bay reef complex, West-Java, Indonesia

Very few coral reefs are located close enough to large cities to study the influence of large urban populations on reef assemblages. An exception is the Thousand Islands reef complex to the north of Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, and one of the largest conurbations in the world. Here we present data from a detailed survey where sponge assemblages were assessed at 30 patch reefs associated with islands in three coastal zones along an in-to-offshore gradient. Sponge assemblages are described at three taxonomic levels of detail (species, genus and family level). We recorded a total of 118 sponge species, 64 genera and 36 families, Aaptos suberitoides (Brønsted, 1934), Clathria (Thalysias) reinwardti (Vosmaer, 1880), Petrosia (Petrosia) nigricans (Lindgren, 1897) and Xestospongia testudinaria (Lamarck, 1813) were the most common species overall. There was a pronounced difference in composition among zones with the most distinct difference between the inshore zone and the other two zones. The inshore environment was characterised by very high turbidity and low live coral cover; the dominant substrate consisted of algal turf and sand. Environmental conditions improved and sponge diversity increased further offshore, although most areas appeared to have been affected by some form of disturbance. Ordinations were also largely congruent, at species, generic and family levels of taxonomic resolution. This indicates that variation in composition at higher taxonomic levels is a good indicator of variation at lower taxonomic levels, at least when there is a pronounced environmental gradient.     

Effects of geomorphological zones, reefs and seasons on coral reef fish communities of Réunion Island, Mascarene Archipelago, SW Indian Ocean

The present work analyses the spatial and temporal fluctuations of fish communities on Réunion coral reef flats on three different reefs, each comprising three geomorphological zones, over eight seasons within a 6-year period. These three reefs are subjected to different environmental conditions and displayed various percentages of live coral cover. Our objectives were not only to describe the spatio-temporal patterns, but also to organize the factors involved in variation hierarchically, and to quantify the degree of community structuring that could be monitored over various spatial and temporal scales. We also focus on fish guilds to link the spatio-temporal patterns not only to species but also to the roles fish are playing (mainly involving trophic activity). We found that spatial attributes strongly determined fish distribution, with intra-reefal zones (back-reef, inner reef flat and outer reef flat) playing a much more important role than the different reefs. This suggests that the percentage of live coral cover of a given reef was less significant than its morpho-structural organization to explain fish distribution. Seasons had only a weak role in fish distribution, although fish communities were significantly more homogeneous in winter than in summer, possibly due to the arrival of numerous juveniles belonging to various species during summer settlement events. We also identified a marked temporal persistence of the spatial patterns found over the course of the study. This is discussed in relation to the current trend of increased surface seawater temperatures involved in the possible future increase in number/intensity of ENSO events. We consider the average squared Euclidian distance as a candidate for monitoring tools to quantify future changes in fish community structuring.     

Benthic Foraminifera as ecological indicators for water quality on the Great Barrier Reef

Benthic foraminifera are established indicators for Water Quality (WQ) in Florida and the Caribbean. However, nearshore coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and other Pacific regions are also subjected to increased nutrient and sediment loads. Here, we investigate the use of benthic foraminifera as indicators to assess status and trends of WQ on GBR reefs. We quantified several sediment parameters and the foraminiferan assemblage composition on 20 reefs in four geographic regions of the GBR, and along a water column nutrient and turbidity gradient. Twenty-seven easily recognisable benthic foraminiferan taxa (>63 μm) were distinguished. All four geographic regions differed significantly (p < 0.05, ANOSIM) in their assemblage composition, and a redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that sediment parameters only explained a small proportion of the variance in the assemblage composition. On nine reefs along a previously studied water quality gradient, foraminifera showed a distinct shift in assemblage composition towards larger symbiont-bearing taxa from turbid inner shelf towards clearer outer shelf reefs. A RDA separated symbiotic and aposymbiotic (heterotrophic) taxa. In addition, total suspended solid and water column chlorophyll a concentrations were negatively correlated, and optical depth and distance to the mainland were positively correlated, with the abundance of symbiont-bearing taxa. Several large foraminifera were identified as indicators for offshore, clear water conditions. In contrast, heterotrophic rotaliids and a species retaining plastids (Elphidium sp.) where highly characteristic for low light, higher nutrient conditions. Application of the FORAM index to GBR assemblage composition showed a significant increase in the value of this index with increased distance from the mainland in the Whitsunday region (r² = 0.75, p < 0.001), and therefore with increasing light and decreased nutrient availability. We conclude that it will be possible to apply this index to GBR and possibly other Pacific reefs after some adaptations and additional experimental work on species-specific limiting factors.