Does Colony Form of Caribbean Octocorals Change as They Grow?

Authors: Samuel Rivera, Howard Lasker

SUNY Campus: SUNY Buffalo

Presentation Type: Poster

Location: Old Union Hall

Presentation #: 28

Timeslot: Session C 1:45-2:45 PM

Abstract: Historically, coral reefs in the Caribbean have been dominated by scleractinians. However, as anthropogenic influences alter the composition of benthic communities, an increase in the abundance of octocorals is being seen on many reefs. As octocorals gain greater prevalence on reefs in the Caribbean, it is important to gain a better understanding of these organisms that have been historically understudied. We examined colony development, astogeny, of four octocoral species; Pseudoplexaura wagenaari, Plexaura homomalla, Antillogorgia americana, and an undescribed Antillogorgia sp. Colony form was characterized using frontal and overhead images to obtain each colony’s height, width, frontal area, planar area and the distribution of branches as a function of height. Results indicated that species differed from each other. In general, the total area occupied by each colony was linearly related to height. The use of space relative to the maximum height differed between species but was similar for different sized colonies of the same species, suggesting a colony’s shape is conserved as it grows.