Calcification Rate and the Effect of Temperature in a Zooxanthellate and an Azooxanthellate Scleractinian Reef Coral
Marshall AT and Clode P. 2004. Calcification Rate and the Effect of Temperature in a Zooxanthellate and an Azooxanthellate Scleractinian Reef Coral. Coral Reefs. 23:218-224
Calcification rates, normalized to skeletal mass, in the zooxanthellate Galaxea fascicularis and the azooxanthellate Dendrophyllia sp. were similar over the who temperature range of 19-29 degrees Celcius. Calcification was measured by Ca^45 incorporation in corals that were naturally acclimated to the prevailing seawater temperature. In both species maximum calcification rate occurred at about 25 degree Celsius and calcification rates can be fitted to a Gaussian distribution with respect to temperature. The similarity in temperature dependence of the zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate coral suggests that temperature affects some fundamental process of calcification that is independent of light effects. It is shown that two different populations of Galaxea fascicularis have distinctly different ratios of tissue protein to skeletal mass per polyp. This indicates that tissue [rptein may not be suitable for normalizing calcification rates in individual coral polyps, both within and between species. Intra- and interspecific comparisons of calcification rates may be better made on the basis of skeletal mass when polyps are similar in size and shape.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Marshall, A.; Clode, P.
- Date of Issue
- 2004-02-27
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Dendrophyllia sp., Galaxea fascicularis, seawater temperature, Temperature dependence, Tissue protein