Defensive strategies of soft corals (Coelenterata: Octocorallia) of the Great Barrier Reef

Oecologia ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Sammarco ◽  
S. La Barre ◽  
J. C. Coll
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Corals ◽  
Defensive Strategies

Predation on soft corals (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 1281 ◽  
Author(s):  
JK Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Coral ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Corals ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Bite Marks ◽  
First Time ◽  
Predation Rates

Quantitative evidence on predation rates on soft corals is presented for the first time. These measured predation rates were low. Less than 1% of the soft coral colonies present in mapped areas at Heron Island and Beaver Reefs had bite marks. Evidence suggests that over 51% of these bite marks were more than two months old. Predators included the mollusc Ovula ovum and two species of chaetodontid fishes that have not been recorded before as feeding on soft corals.

Symbiont specificity and bleaching susceptibility among soft corals in the 1998 Great Barrier Reef mass coral bleaching event

2008 ◽  
Vol 154 (5) ◽  
pp. 795-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar L. Goulet ◽  
Todd C. LaJeunesse ◽  
Katharina E. Fabricius
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Bleaching ◽  
Bleaching Event ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Corals

Occurrence of aggressive mechanisms during interactions between soft corals (Octocorallia : Alcyoniidae) and other corals on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Coral ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Corals ◽  
Acanthaster Planci ◽  
Coral Reef Community ◽  
Reef Community ◽  
Coral Colony ◽  
Factors Influencing

This study found that on two reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, most coral colonies within 10 cm of a soft coral colony were interacting to the detriment of one or both colonies. Soft corals were more likely to interact with neighbouring hard corals than with other soft corals. The relative infrequency of ties indicated that two coral colonies were rarely equal competitively. Allelopathy and simple overgrowth were the major aggressive mechanisms of alcyoniids. Soft corals tended to simply overgrow neighbouring hard corals but used allelochemicals more frequently when the neighbour was another soft coral. Other factors influencing the type of aggressive mechanism used included the size of the neighbouring colony. The importance of this to a coral reef community after events such as Acanthaster planci infestations is discussed.

A MODEL OF ALLELOCHEMICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SOFT AND SCLERACTINIAN CORALS ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

1993 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.L. ANTONELLI ◽  
P.W. SAMMARCO ◽  
J.C. COLL
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Coral ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Scleractinian Corals ◽  
Toxic Effects ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Soft Corals ◽  
Allelopathic Interactions ◽  
Community Production

The mathematical theory of Volterra-Hamilton systems developed for modelling allelopathic interactions in sessile communities, is utilized here to model cost of terpene production of colonizing soft corals and their highly toxic effects on scleractinian corals of the Great Barrier Reef. The central question asked is what strategies of hard corals, if any, would enable them to survive colonization. Several detailed results are obtained relating quantitative measures of terpene production (v), soft coral encroachment (µ), allelopathic vigour (–K) and community production stability. The model predicts that any factor which reduces soft coral encroachment (which includes direct toxic effects) has survival value. Thus, spatial shapes and distributions of scleractinians or refuge in space, in themselves, may constitute viable “cost-effective” competitive defenses. It is unlikely, however, that scleractinian corals could evolve in such a way as to specifically neutralize terpenes directly, according to this model, although their species-specifically variable resistance to their effects can be accounted for.

Farming versatility by Pomacentrus wardi

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 558 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Ceccarelli ◽  
M. J. Emslie ◽  
A. R. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Filamentous Algae ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Corals ◽  
Novel Technique ◽  
Lizard Island ◽  
Food Species ◽  
Algal Turfs

Territorial damselfishes, or ‘farmers’, modify the benthic communities in their territories in favour of preferred food species, usually filamentous algae. Behavioural observations of the farming Ward’s damselfish, Pomacentrus wardi, on Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, revealed that 55% of the observed individuals had high bite rates on the surface of soft corals (genera Sinularia, Isis and Sarcophyton). Furthermore, numerous soft corals within P. wardi territories were observed to have algal turfs growing on them. Such observations suggest an unprecedented versatility in the choice of seemingly healthy soft corals as a substrate for algal farms. This behaviour may be a novel technique for reducing competitive interactions from roving herbivores, and may have sublethal consequences for the soft corals that remain to be tested.

scholarly journals Chemical Defences in Soft Corals (Coelenterata: Octocorallia) of the Great Barrier Reef: A Study of Comparative Toxicities

1982 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 271-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
JC Coll ◽  
S La Barre ◽  
PW Sammarco ◽  
WT Williams ◽  
GJ Bakus
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Soft Corals ◽  
Chemical Defences
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