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.

Amphiprion frenatus

Written by Tim Wijgerde

Taxonomy:

Amphiprion frenatus (Brevoort, 1856)

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Superclass: Osteichthyes

Class: Actinopterygii

Subclass: Neopterygii

Infraclass: Teleostei

Superorder: Acanthopterygii

Order: Perciformes

Suborder: Labroidei

Family: Pomacentridae

Genus: Amphiprion

Species: frenatus

The tomato clownfish, Amphiprion frenatus, is a clownfish that is found in the waters of the Western Pacific, from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, to Malaysia and Indonesia. It is also known as the Bridled clownfish, Red clownfish, or Tomato anemonefish. In the Philippines off Apo Island, an area exists called Clownfish City where hundreds of Tomato clownfish reside. They are accompanied by a similar species, Amphiprion Clarkii.

Author:

Alex Rose

References:

Wikipedia

Amphiprion frenatus (TSN 170149). Integrated Taxonomic Information System, ITIS

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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