Ecology of the Symbiotic Coral Cladocora caespitosa (L.) (Faviidae, Scleractinia) in the Bay of Piran (Adriatic Sea): I. Distribution and Biometry

Abstract. Cladocora caespitosa is a relatively common, colonial, symbiotic, scleractinian coral in the Mediterranean Sea. It inhabits a wide ecological range: hard and soft bottoms, shallow waters or depths to about 50m, calm water or sites exposed to strong currents and wave action. The present study compares the distribution of this coral at two sites, one shallow (3m — wave exposed) and one deeper (12m — soft bottom).
Different parameters including dry weight, volume, and skeletal growth rates were investigated. The polyp biomass, carbon content, and overall area of fully expanded polyps were also measured. Equations are given for the relationship of skeleton diameter to polyp tissue dry weight as well as skeleton diameter to the possible filter area of fully expanded polyps.
C. caespitosa harbors a rich community of vagile and sessile organisms within the skeleton. The cryptofauna was sorted to higher taxonomic levels and their biomass determined. Several highly significant linear relationship were found between skeleton dry weight, volume and cryptofauna biomass. Thus, the determination of colony volume allows the prediction of cryptofauna biomass.
The interstitial space is dominated by sponges - many of them borers - which erode the corallites close to the living tissue until they break off from the colony. At the deeper sampling site, 26% of all colonies are smaller than 2 cm and 48% are smaller than 5 cm. The fragmentation process is discussed with respect to reproduction.