Zooplankton feeding by corals underestimated

Research by marine biologists from Wageningen University has shown that feeding on zooplankton by scleractinian corals has been greatly underestimated.

Octocorals found to be reef builders

Scientists from Taiwan and Israel have found that octocorals are important reef builders. This exciting discovery makes us rethink the very nature of coral reefs.

Flatworms compete with corals for zooplankton

Epizoic coral flatworms have been found to compete with their coral host for zooplankton. This finding is in agreement with the theory that symbiotic coral flatworms are parasitic.

Small polyps do capture zooplankton

Small polyped stony corals are often believed to simply rely on strong lighting and dissolved nutrients. But even these corals capture significant amounts of plankton.

Swiftia exserta

Written by Tim Wijgerde

Taxonomy:

Swiftia exserta (Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864)

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Cnidaria

Class: Anthozoa

Subclass: Octocorallia

Order: Alcyonacea

Suborder: Holaxonia

Family: Plexauridae

Genus: Swiftia

Species: exserta

Swiftia exserta is a deep water Atlantic Octocoral, both ahermatypic and azooxanthellate. This coral species thrives in particle-rich waters, with high flow rates and low light levels. It requires ample feeding with live zooplankton or plankton-analogues in the 5 - 800 μm size range (estimation). Smaller particles such as bacteria may also be ingested. Uptake of DOC (such as amino acids) is likely, based on data from Scleractinian corals.

Author:

Jean-Paul ten Klooster & Tim Wijgerde

References:

ten Klooster, J.P., pers. obs.

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Zooplankton feeding by corals underestimated

Octocorals found to be reef builders

Flatworms compete with corals for zooplankton

Small polyps do capture zooplankton