Academic Journal
Symbiont-Bearing Colonial Corals and Gastropods: An Odd Couple of the Shallow Seas
| العنوان: | Symbiont-Bearing Colonial Corals and Gastropods: An Odd Couple of the Shallow Seas |
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| المؤلفون: | Coletti, G, Collareta, A, Di Cencio, A, Bosio, G, Casati, S |
| المساهمون: | Coletti, G, Collareta, A, Di Cencio, A, Bosio, G, Casati, S |
| بيانات النشر: | MDPI CH |
| سنة النشر: | 2023 |
| المجموعة: | Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca: BOA (Bicocca Open Archive) |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | Cladocora caespitosa, Crepidula, epibiosi, Muricidae, Oculina patagonica, Pliocene, symbiosi, taphonomy |
| الوصف: | In order to investigate the serendipitous find of a gastropod encrusted by the symbiont-bearing colonial coral Oculina patagonica, we examined several specimens of cnidarian-encrusted gastropods, ranging in age from the Pliocene to the Recent, and characterized in detail their sclerobiont cover. The results of our analysis suggest that gastropod shells can be encrusted by symbiont-bearing colonial corals at various times: (1) when the gastropod is alive; (2) when the shell is being used by a secondary inhabitant (e.g., hermit crabs or sipunculid worms); (3) when the shell is discarded but yet to be buried. The relationship between the symbiont-bearing coral and the inhabitant(s) of the encrusted shell is an example of facultative mutualism, i.e., it is non-obligate yet beneficial for both ends as the former obtains the capability to move, and the latter improves the resistance and resilience of its armor, thus obtaining extra protection from predators. Being able to move could prove particularly useful for a symbiont-bearing coral because, in addition to removing the risk of being smothered by sediment, it would also favor the photosynthetic activity of its algal endosymbionts by allowing the coral to be always clean of sedimentary particles. Although the resulting epibiotic association would be limited in size by the ability of either the gastropod or the secondary inhabitant of the shell to move at the seafloor, these small and easy-to-miss benthic islands might become the seeds that allow sessile carbonate producers such as hermatypic colonial corals to colonize unconsolidated substrates. |
| نوع الوثيقة: | article in journal/newspaper |
| وصف الملف: | ELETTRONICO |
| اللغة: | English |
| Relation: | info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000939970600001; volume:11; issue:2; journal:JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING; https://hdl.handle.net/10281/433200; info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85149118502 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/jmse11020260 |
| الاتاحة: | https://hdl.handle.net/10281/433200 https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020260 |
| Rights: | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| رقم الانضمام: | edsbas.85DAD1B9 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | BASE |
| DOI: | 10.3390/jmse11020260 |
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