Genomic, morphological, and physiological insights into coral acclimation along the depth gradient following an in situ reciprocal transplantation of planulae.

Mesophotic coral reefs have been proposed as refugia for corals, providing shelter and larval propagules for shallow water reefs that are disproportionately challenged by global climate change and local anthropogenic stressors. For mesophotic reefs to be a viable refuge, firstly, deep origin larvae must survive on shallow reefs and, secondly, the two environments must be physically connected. This study tested the first condition.

Irradiance driven trophic plasticity in the coral Madracis pharensis from the Eastern Mediterranean.

The distribution of symbiotic scleractinian corals is driven, in part, by light availability, as host energy demands are partially met through translocation of photosynthate. Physiological plasticity in response to environmental conditions, such as light, enables the expansion of resilient phenotypes in the face of changing environmental conditions. Here we compared the physiology, morphology, and taxonomy of the host and endosymbionts of individual Madracis pharensis corals exposed to dramatically different light conditions based on colony orientation on the surface of a shipwreck at 30 m depth in the Bay of Haifa, Israel.

Insights from the 2-year-long human confinement experiment in Grand Cayman reveal the resilience of coral reef fish communities.

In March 2020, the world went into lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), with immediate impacts on wildlife across ecosystems. The strict 2-year long lockdown in Grand Cayman provided an unprecedented opportunity to assess how the 'human confinement experiment' influenced the community composition of reef fish. Using a suite of multivariate statistics, our findings revealed a stark increase in reef fish biomass during the 2 years of lockdown, especially among herbivores, including parrotfish, with drastic increases in juvenile parrotfishes identified.

Morphological and genetic mechanisms underlying the plasticity of the coral Porites astreoides across depths in Bermuda.

The widespread decline of shallow-water coral reefs has fueled interest in assessing whether mesophotic reefs can act as refugia replenishing deteriorated shallower reefs through larval exchange. Here we explore the morphological and molecular basis facilitating survival of planulae and adults of the coral Porites astreoides (Lamarck, 1816; Hexacorallia: Poritidae) along the vertical depth gradient in Bermuda. We found differences in micro-skeletal features such as bigger calyxes and coarser surface of the skeletal spines in shallow corals.

Physiological and morphological plasticity in larvae from Eilat, Israel, to shallow and mesophotic light conditions.

Mesophotic reefs have been proposed as climate change refugia but are not synonymous ecosystems with shallow reefs and remain exposed to anthropogenic impacts. Planulae from the reef-building coral , Gulf of Aqaba, from 5- and 45-m depth were tested for capacity to settle, grow, and acclimate to reciprocal light conditions. Skeletons were scanned by phase contrast-enhanced micro-CT to study morphology.

Concordance of microbial and visual health indicators of white-band disease in nursery reared Caribbean coral .

Background: Coral diseases are one of the leading causes of declines in coral populations. In the Caribbean, white band disease (WBD) has led to a substantial loss of corals. Although the etiologies of this disease have not been well described, characterizing the coral microbiome during the transition from a healthy to diseased state is critical for understanding disease progression.

Protected fish spawning aggregations as self-replenishing reservoirs for regional recovery.

Dispersal of eggs and larvae from spawning sites is critical to the population dynamics and conservation of marine fishes. For overfished species like critically endangered Nassau grouper (), recovery depends on the fate of eggs spawned at the few remaining aggregation sites. Biophysical models can predict larval dispersal, yet these rely on assumed values of key parameters, such as diffusion and mortality rates, which have historically been difficult or impossible to estimate.

Mixtures of genotypes increase disease resistance in a coral nursery.

Marine infectious diseases are a leading cause of population declines globally due, in large part, to challenges in diagnosis and limited treatment options. Mitigating disease spread is particularly important for species targeted for conservation. In some systems, strategic arrangement of organisms in space can constrain disease outbreaks, however, this approach has not been used in marine restoration.

Brooded coral offspring physiology depends on the combined effects of parental press and pulse thermal history.

Reef-building corals respond to the temporal integration of both pulse events (i.e., heat waves) and press thermal history (i.

Spatial distribution of microbial communities among colonies and genotypes in nursery-reared .

Background: The architecturally important coral species and were historically common in the Caribbean, but have declined precipitously since the early 1980s. Substantial resources are currently being dedicated to coral gardening and the subsequent outplanting of asexually reproduced colonies of , activities that provide abundant biomass for both restoration efforts and for experimental studies to better understand the ecology of these critically endangered coral species.

Methods: We characterized the bacterial and archaeal community composition of corals in a Caribbean nursery to determine the heterogeneity of the microbiome within and among colonies.

Genomic patterns in show extensive population structure and variable genetic diversity.

Threatened Caribbean coral communities can benefit from high-resolution genetic data used to inform management and conservation action. We use Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS) to investigate genetic patterns in the threatened coral, , across the Florida Reef Tract (FRT) and the western Caribbean. Results show extensive population structure at regional scales and resolve previously unknown structure within the FRT.

Recruitment Variability of Coral Reef Sessile Communities of the Far North Great Barrier Reef.

One of the key components in assessing marine sessile organism demography is determining recruitment patterns to benthic habitats. An analysis of serially deployed recruitment tiles across depth (6 and 12 m), seasons (summer and winter) and space (meters to kilometres) was used to quantify recruitment assemblage structure (abundance and percent cover) of corals, sponges, ascidians, algae and other sessile organisms from the northern sector of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Polychaetes were most abundant on recruitment titles, reaching almost 50% of total recruitment, yet covered <5% of each tile.

A positive trajectory for corals atLittle Cayman Island.

Coral reefs are damaged by natural disturbances and local and global anthropogenic stresses. As stresses intensify, so do debates about whether reefs will recover after significant damage. True headway in this debate requires documented temporal trajectories for coral assemblages subjected to various combinations of stresses; therefore, we report relevant changes in coral assemblages at Little Cayman Island.