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Spatial variability in reproductive cycle of the gorgonians Paramuricea clavata and Eunicella singularis (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) in the Western Mediterranean Sea

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Abstract

Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) and Eunicella singularis (Esper, 1794) are the most representative gorgonian species in hard bottoms sublittoral communities in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Reproductive cycles of two populations of both species were studied in two distinct locations approximately 600 km apart (Medes Islands and Cape of Palos), in order to assess interpopulation variability on a relevant geographic scale. Seasonal variation of lipid concentration levels in the gorgonian tissue was used as a tool to quantify energy storage by each studied population in order to explain possible interpopulation differences in gonadal output. Sex ratio in Medes Islands populations of both species was 1:1, while in Cape of Palos sex ratio was significantly male biased (1:7) in P. clavata, and female biased (1.7:1) in E. singularis populations. Spawning timing occurred in all cases coinciding with a marked increase in sea-water temperature in spring, and after the most successful feeding season, but comparing localities there was a clear temporal shift in the time of gametes release, appearing well linked to the shift in sea-water temperature rising in spring in both sites at the depth where populations are placed. Therefore, in this study the temperature appears as the main synchronizing factor of gonadal development within these populations. Significant differences in gonadal volume per polyp were found in both species owing mainly to differences in the number of gonads per polyp between populations, with Cape of Palos populations displaying higher values in both studied species, suggesting that the exposition to different local conditions may be reverted in a different gonadal output. But the observed patterns in lipid concentrations levels in gorgonians disable us to conclude that lipid concentration levels explain the observed differences in gonadal output found in this study.

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank S. Rodergas, L. Pierboni, I. Fiorillo, and C. Saleta for their help with the laboratory analyses, and J.C. Calvín Calvo for his help with the field work. We are grateful to J. Pascual for sea-water temperature data and to C. Orejas and G. Carpaneto for their useful comments improving the first version of the manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by Spain’s Ministry of Education and Science through the MEDGORG project REN2000-0633-C03-01/MAR and CTM2004-03120/MAR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Biología Marina i Oceanografia, Institut de Ciències del Mar—CSIC, Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37-49, Barcelona, 08003, Spain

    Andrea Gori, Cristina Linares, Sergio Rossi & Josep-Maria Gili

  2. Departament d’Ecologia Aquàtica, Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes—CSIC, C/Accés a la Cala St. Francesc 14, Blanes, 17300, Spain

    Cristina Linares & Rafel Coma

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  1. Andrea Gori
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  2. Cristina Linares
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Correspondence to Andrea Gori.

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Communicated by S.A. Poulet.

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Gori, A., Linares, C., Rossi, S. et al. Spatial variability in reproductive cycle of the gorgonians Paramuricea clavata and Eunicella singularis (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Mar Biol 151, 1571–1584 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0595-7

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