24.12.2012 Views

11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Poster Mini-Symposium 26: Biodiversity and Diversification of Reef Organisms<br />

26.1174<br />

Coral Assemblages Of Cabo Verde Islands (North Atlantic): Preliminary<br />

Assessment And Description.<br />

João MONTEIRO* 1,2 , Corrine ALMEIDA 3 , Rui FREITAS 3 , Aricson DELGADO 3 ,<br />

Filipe PORTEIRO 1,2 , Ricardo S. SANTOS 1,2<br />

1 Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Açores, Horta, Portugal,<br />

2 Centro do IMAR da Universidade do Açores, Horta, Portugal, 3 Departamento de Pescas<br />

e Tecnologia de Recursos Aquáticos, Instituto Superior de Engenharia e Ciências do Mar,<br />

Mindelo, Cape Verde<br />

The islands of Cabo Verde, North Atlantic, are an important hotspot of tropical reef<br />

biodiversity, and one of the top ten priority locations worldwide for the conservation of<br />

reef habitats. Despite the absence of major coral reef structures, and of the relative poor<br />

diversity of coral species, these islands’ coral communities constitute unique habitats and<br />

thought to play a key role in local coastal ecosystems. The objective of this work was to<br />

conduct a preliminary ecological assessment of coral communities in Cabo Verde. Two<br />

fieldtrips were conducted using underwater transects with DAFOR semi-quantitative<br />

scale to estimate relative abundance of coral species. This effort, together with a review<br />

of historical records, allowed a preliminary identification and description of three major<br />

coral biotopes: i) antipatharians facies in vertical walls; ii) Siderastrea radians pavements<br />

over shallow bedrock; and iii) diverse coral coverage over rocky reef with sand patches.<br />

Coral species’ diversity in these biotopes is comparatively lower than those from other<br />

tropical reef ecosystems (e.g. West Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions). Observations from<br />

the fieldtrip to Sal Island, where a more extensive survey was possible, revealed greater<br />

living coverage and biodiversity on the leeward side when compared with the windward<br />

side of the island. Depth and hard substrate orientation (vertical/horizontal) appear to act<br />

as major environmental factors structuring these biotopes. The importance of other<br />

abiotic factors affecting their distribution, structure and diversity, such as water<br />

temperature, West African upwelling influence and dust deposition from Sahara desert,<br />

by prevailing and harmatan winds, are briefly discussed. An experimental design,<br />

including a quantitative approach and the use of data loggers for temperature and<br />

photosynthetic irradiance monitoring, is proposed for future research and accurate<br />

ecological characterisation of these biotopes and associated coral communities.<br />

26.1175<br />

Recent Sightings Of Longsnout Seahorse, Hippocampus Reidi in The Marine<br />

Environment Of St. Kitts, Lesser Antilles<br />

Vajai LATCHMAN* 1 , Maureen SULLIVAN 2 , Raphaela STIMMELMAYR 3<br />

1 Kenneth Dive CEnter St.Kitts, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 2 St.Kitts Reef Ecology<br />

Watch Group, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 3 Ross <strong>University</strong> Veterinary School,<br />

Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis<br />

Only two species of Seahorses occur in the Caribbean, the Longsnout, Hippocampus reidi<br />

and Lined Seahorse, Hippocampus erectus. General information on the abundance of<br />

Longsnout Seahorse is lacking and the species has been categorized as data deficient<br />

indicating a need for further studies. The Lined Seahorse is currently listed by the IUCN<br />

as a vulnerable species. In 2007, three single individuals, H. reidi have been repeatedly<br />

sighted at three different shallow reef dive sites. Although seahorses nearly always occur<br />

in pairs and the home ranges for the species is rather small, as of yet no pairs have been<br />

sighted. The reefs are mixed habitat with corals, sea grass beds, and sponges present.<br />

Later habitats are often associated with seahorses. Previous longsnout seahorse sightings<br />

dating back to 1993 have over the years been inconsistent and restricted to only one of<br />

the sites. The recent frequent sightings and identification of a new reef site could indicate<br />

an increase in the local seahorse population size. Further studies are needed to estimate<br />

the local seahorse population size and habitat characteristics.<br />

26.1176<br />

Comparison of Bacterial Diversity within the Coral Reef Sponge, Axinella corrugata, the<br />

Encrusting Coral Erythopodium Caribaeorum and Adjacent Environmental Samples<br />

Jose LOPEZ* 1 , Peter MCCARTHY 2 , Angela LEDGER 2 , Llanie RANZER 3 , Russell KERR 4 ,<br />

Alan DUCKWORTH 5<br />

1 Oceanographic Center, <strong>Nova</strong> <strong>Southeastern</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Dania Beach, FL, 2 Harbor Branch<br />

Oceanographic Inst at FAU, Ft Pierce, FL, 3 Florida Atlantic <strong>University</strong>, Boca Raton, FL,<br />

4 Department of Chemistry, <strong>University</strong> of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada,<br />

5 Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia<br />

In recent years, the Caribbean reef sponge, Axinella corrugata, has been developed as a model<br />

marine invertebrate for the study of molecular genetics and secondary metabolism. To continue<br />

this characterization, we performed a cursory survey of bacterial diversity of A. corrugata using<br />

16S rRNA gene sequences. > 100 culture-independent sequences were generated from 16S<br />

rRNA libraries of 6 different Axinella corrugata specimens, and compared with 55 cultured<br />

isolates derived from the same species. This comparison indicated a fairly narrow taxonomic<br />

distribution for Axinella microbial communities. The diversity of cultured isolates was<br />

comprised mostly of Actinobacteria, such as Brachybacterium paraconglomeratum, and Alpha-<br />

and Gamma-Proteobacteria. The culture-independent 16S rDNA clones encompassed more<br />

diverse Proteobacteria based on the higher number of “uncultured” or “unknown”<br />

representatives, with lower % similiarity values, including the Delta-Proteobacteria.<br />

Flavobacterium, and Cyanobacteria sequences.<br />

Further, this study also showed that Axinella sponges appear to host specific microbial<br />

symbionts, similar to previously identified clones termed ““OSO” environmental samples. In<br />

contrast to the sponge microbial communities, two different 16S libraries from seawater<br />

samples near one Axinella source sample were dominated by Pseudoaltermonas. Adjacent<br />

sediment samples yielded several clones of sulfate-reducing Desulfovibrio, Planctomycetes and<br />

other Delta-Proteobacteria. A Clostridium-like 16S rRNA sequence was also detected after the<br />

oxygen supply to one Axinella specimen was deliberately curtailed to assess temporal changes<br />

in the microbial community. In a final comparison, the Caribbean reef coral, Erythopodium<br />

caribaeorum yielded a higher number of Beta-Proteobacteria 16S sequences relative to Axinella<br />

cultured and culture independent 16S rRNA sequences. Overall this study indicates that<br />

marine microbial community diversity can be linked to specific source host and habitats. These<br />

data fit into current programs to census total marine diversity, such as ICoMM, the International<br />

Census of Marine Microbes (http: //icomm.mbl.edu/).<br />

26.1177<br />

What Are The Genetic Relationships Among Morphospecies Within The Coral Genus<br />

Madracis?<br />

Maria Catalina REYES-NIVIA* 1,2 , Rolf PM BAK 1,2 , Pedro R FRADE 1,2<br />

1 Marine Ecology and Evolution, Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, Netherlands,<br />

2 Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, <strong>University</strong> of Amsterdam, Amsterdam,<br />

Netherlands<br />

Species morphological boundaries in scleractinian corals do not necessarily correspond to<br />

genetically distinct units. In this study, phylogenetic relationships among six closely related<br />

species in the genus Madracis were examined using two nuclear intron markers (ATPSα and<br />

SRP54). Bayesian probabilities, maximum-likelihood and parsimony analyses consistently<br />

recovered monophylies of Madracis senaria and M. carmabi using the ATPSα marker. High<br />

support values and congruent topologies suggest that morphological boundaries are consistent<br />

with these two genetically discrete units. Recurrent polyphyletic groups, shared nuclear<br />

sequences and high polymorphism at the intra- and inter-specific level between M. decactis and<br />

M. pharensis, suggest retained ancestral polymorphisms or introgressive hybridization between<br />

these taxa. Phylogenies derived from the SRP54 show continued lack of resolution or<br />

consistency, making these topologies not reliable. FST pairwise comparison based on ATPSα<br />

suggests that gene exchange is quite low among most of Madracis taxa. AMOVA analysis<br />

reveals that 59% of the genetic differentiation is attributable to variation among putative species<br />

(p < 0.001). Heterozygosity levels predicted under conditions of random mating rarely fulfilled<br />

expectations for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. M. formosa and M. pharensis exhibited<br />

significant heterozygote deficits, while, in contrast, M. mirabilis showed heterozygous excess,<br />

consequent with its common asexual dispersal mode. The overall results suggest that<br />

introgression events can occasionally occur but that inbreeding between closely related species<br />

is limited, keeping morphospecies boundaries recognizable.<br />

558

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!