Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on the abundance and size of epibenthic jellyfish Cassiopea spp

Jellyfish blooms in pelagic systems appear to be increasing on a global scale because of anthropogenic impacts, but much less is known about the link between human activities and epibenthic jellyfish abundance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the epibenthic jellyfish, Cassiopea spp., were found in greater abundance, and attained larger sizes, in coastal habitats adjacent to high human population densities compared to sites adjacent to uninhabited areas on Abaco Island, Bahamas. Cassiopea spp. were found to be significantly more dense and larger in areas with high human population densities. Ambient nutrient levels and nutrient content of seagrass were elevated in high human population density sites, and may be one mechanism driving higher abundance and size of Cassiopea spp. Cassiopea spp. may have important effects on community structure and ecosystem function in critical coastal ecosystems (e.g., seagrass beds), and their impacts warrant further study.     

Reef corals bleach to resist stress

A rationale is presented here for a primary role of bleaching in regulation of the coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis under conditions of stress. Corals and zooxanthellae have fundamentally different metabolic rates, requiring active homeostasis to limit zooxanthellae production and manage translocated products to maintain the symbiosis. The control processes for homeostasis are compromised by environmental stress, resulting in metabolic imbalance between the symbionts. For the coral-zooxanthella symbiosis the most direct way to minimize metabolic imbalance under stress is to reduce photosynthetic production by zooxanthellae. Two mechanisms have been demonstrated that do this: reduction of the chlorophyll concentration in individual zooxanthellae and reduction of the relative biomass of zooxanthellae. Both mechanisms result in visual whitening of the coral, termed bleaching. Arguments are presented here that bleaching provides the final control to minimize physiological damage from stress as an adversity response to metabolic imbalance. As such, bleaching meets the requirements of a stress response syndrome/general adaptive mechanism that is sensitive to internal states rather than external parameters. Variation in bleaching responses among holobionts reflects genotypic and phenotypic differentiation, allowing evolutionary change by natural selection. Thus, reef corals bleach to resist stress, and thereby have some capacity to adapt to and survive change. The extreme thermal anomalies causing mass coral bleaching worldwide lie outside the reaction norms for most coral-zooxanthellae holobionts, revealing the limitations of bleaching as a control mechanism.     

海南三亚鹿回头虫黄藻(Effrenium voratum)的形态学和系统发育学研究

本文对分离于我国海南三亚鹿回头海域的两株虫黄藻SYSC-14-11和SYSC-2-8进行了分类学研究。通过光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜和分子生物学方法描述了两株藻的形态和系统发育特征, 并与世界其他地理区系的Effrenium属虫黄藻进行了差异性比较, 发现本研究中的两株虫黄藻的形态和系统发育特征与Effrenium属虫黄藻模式种Effrenium voratum基本一致, 推测本文中的两株Effrenium属虫黄藻均为E. voratum。本研究丰富了我国热带海域虫黄藻的物种多样性, 为完善我国的虫黄藻种质资源奠定了基础。     

鹿回头佳丽鹿角珊瑚卵母细胞发育的组织学研究

海南省三亚市鹿回头海域珊瑚礁生态系统退化严重,为了恢复珊瑚礁资源,引进国际上最新的珊瑚礁恢复策略--捕获珊瑚幼虫安放到珊瑚礁退化区域,该策略的重点是准确掌握珊瑚的排卵时间.实验通过组织学分析珊瑚卵母细胞发育情况从而判定珊瑚的排卵时间,而野外的珊瑚幼虫捕获实验也证实我们对排卵时间的判断.通过观测卵母细胞的发育情况,我们确定佳丽鹿角珊瑚Acropora pulchra的排卵时间为4月底5月初.同时也证实佳丽鹿角珊瑚共生的虫黄藻Zooxanthellae是后天获得的.将组织学分析应用到珊瑚礁的恢复中来,使得以后大量的捕获珊瑚幼虫,加快对珊瑚礁退化区域进行恢复成为可能.     

Trace metals in the living and nonliving components of scleractinian corals

Trace metals in coral tissue and skeleton have been investigated in various ways since the early seventies. More recently it has been suggested that the symbiotic zooxanthellae may play an important role in the accumulation and regulation of trace metals. Furthermore gamete development and mucus production may influence the metal accumulation and loss in corals. Many studies have attempted to use the annual growth bands in coral skeletons to investigate historical pollution events. However the relationship between the metal concentrations in the surrounding environment and the incorporation of this into coral skeleton is not well understood. This paper explains a method for investigating metal loads in coral tissue, zooxanthellae and skeleton. Furthermore, it presents new information suggesting that zooxanthellae accumulate most metals (Al, Fe, As, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) in greater concentrations than the coral tissue. Coral skeletons had consistently lower metal concentration than the zooxanthellae, tissue and gametes. The loss of zooxanthellae during stress events may have a significant contribution to the total metal loads in corals. The use of corals as biomonitors should carefully factor in zooxanthellae densities and gamete development before conclusions are drawn.