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Characterization of the zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate morphotypes of the Mediterranean gorgonian Eunicella singularis

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Abstract

The gorgonian Eunicella singularis (Esper, 1794) is abundant on rocky bottoms at Cap de Creus (42°18′49″ N; 003°19′23″ E) in the western Mediterranean, and this study compared zooxanthellate colonies from relatively shallow depths with azooxanthellate colonies living at depths to 60 m. The goal was to determine the taxonomic status of a previously described subspecies, E. singularis aphyta. Sampling at 10-m intervals from 20 to 60 m using scuba or a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in 2004 and 2010 allowed examination of colony shape, sclerite variability, genetic variability, and the presence/absence of zooxanthellae. Two morphotypes were identified: a shallow morphotype with candelabra-like colonies at 20–30 m has zooxanthellae, while a deep morphotype with more ramified colonies at 40–60 m lacks symbionts. Sclerite differences among colonies were also identified along the depth gradient. The mitochondrial marker msh1 did not discriminate between the two morphotypes and indeed did not discriminate among several Mediterranean species of Eunicella. Other genetic markers will be needed to firmly establish the taxonomic status of the two depth-related morphotypes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the invaluable assistance of JM Fortuño with the scanning electron miscroscope, of T Garcia, A Olariaga, X Leal, S Ambroso, and J Movilla with field work, of J Sants and A Arias with the CTDs, of the SES Tarragona for their assistance and availability, and of S France (UL Lafayette) for providing laboratory facilities and expertise for sequencing of mitochondrial genes, funded by NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration (#NA08OAR4600756) and the NSF project “Assembling the Cnidarian Tree of Life” (grants EF-0531570 to CS McFadden and EF-0531779 to P Cartwright). A Gori was funded by an I3P contract of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Ref. I3P-BPD2005), L Bramanti was funded by Marie Curie IEF (Corgard, Project no. 221072), and S Rossi was funded from a Ramón y Cajal Contract (RyC-2007-01327). This work is part of the 2003–2004 INTERREG project between Catalonia-Languedoc Rouissillon “Pirineus Mediterrànis: La muntanya que uneix” of the CSIC and CNRS, and the 2009–2013 European project LIFE + INDEMARES “Inventario y designación de la red natura 2000 en áreas marinas del estado español” (LIFE07/NAT/E/000732) of the European Union.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciónes Cientificas, Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Andrea Gori, Lorenzo Bramanti, Josep-Maria Gili, Jordi Grinyó & Vanessa Uceira

  2. Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Reina Mercedes 6, 41012, Sevilla, Spain

    Pablo López-González

  3. Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, PO Box 42451, Lafayette, LA, 70504, USA

    Jana N. Thoma

  4. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB Campus Cn s/n, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain

    Sergio Rossi

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  1. Andrea Gori
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Correspondence to Andrea Gori.

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Communicated by J. P. Grassle.

Electronic supplementary material

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Online Resource 1 Map of sampling locations in western Mediterranean Sea (JPG 295 kb)

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Online Resource 2 Five degrees of roughness in balloon club heads of Eunicella spp.; completely smooth (1), predominantly smooth but with some peaks (2), almost as smooth as rough (3), completely rough with no pronounced peaks (4), completely rough with pronounced peaks (5) (JPG 2424 kb)

Supplementary material 3 (DOC 25 kb)

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Online Resource 4 Colonies of Eunicella singularis from each depth sampled, Eunicella cavolinii (EC), and Eunicella verrucosa (EV) (JPG 10.1 mb)

Online Resource 5 Balloon clubs from two colonies of Eunicella singularis from 20 m depth (JPG 1.13 mb)

Online Resource 6 Balloon clubs from two colonies of Eunicella singularis from 30 m depth (JPG 937 kb)

Online Resource 7 Balloon clubs from two colonies of Eunicella singularis from 40 m depth (JPG 878 kb)

Online Resource 8 Balloon clubs from two colonies of Eunicella singularis from 50 m depth (JPG 773 kb)

Online Resource 9 Balloon clubs from two colonies of Eunicella singularis from 60 m depth (JPG 509 kb)

Online Resource 10 Balloon clubs from two colonies of Eunicella cavolinii (JPG 789 kb)

Online Resource 11 Balloon clubs from two colonies of Eunicella verrucosa (JPG 620 kb)

Supplementary material 12 (PDF 50 kb)

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Online Resource 13 Histological preparations from colonies of Eunicella singularis fromeach sampled depth; arrows indicate zooxanthellae (JPG 1.87 mb)

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Online Resource 14 Water column characterization at Cap de Creus during study period; grey line represents photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), grey dashed line represents water density, black line represents water temperature, and black dashed line represents salinity (JPG 2.81 mb)

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Gori, A., Bramanti, L., López-González, P. et al. Characterization of the zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate morphotypes of the Mediterranean gorgonian Eunicella singularis . Mar Biol 159, 1485–1496 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1928-3

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