A DIVE INTO THE COLOR MORPHOLOGY OF FIJIAN PORITES CYLINDRICA

Shallow-water, reef-building corals are crucial to the ecosystems they inhabit. Their symbiosis with dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodiniaceae) allows them to inhabit and enrich oligotrophic waters, acting as primary producers and structure for other animals. Corals are heavily threatened by climate change, and active restoration has become an increasingly common means of conservation within these ecosystems. In our study, we sought to connect coral thermal tolerances with non-invasive phenometric measurements. We collected and sampled corals from the coral coast in Fiji with a custom-built fluorometer and a coral bleaching automated stress system (CBASS). One of the species in our study set was Porites cylindrica, a fast-growing and relatively heat-tolerant coral which has two color morphologies: brown and yellow. We compared the heat tolerance and phenometric data between the two color morphs. Small, albeit significant, reductions in the absorbance values and in the maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) were observed in response to thermal stress within both color morphs. However, no significant differences in response to thermal stress were observed between color morphs, nor were differences in phenometric data found. Many coral species have multiple color morphs and understanding if thermal stress differs across these color morphs could be important towards improving restoration efforts. 

Presentation Preference: Poster

Primary Presenter: Colin Tang, University of Delaware (colin3.14tang@gmail.com)

Authors:

Colin Tang, University of Delaware  (colin3.14tang@gmail.com)

Sophie Wong, University of Alabama / Dauphin Island Sea Lab  (swong@disl.org)

Shannon Dalessandri, University of Alabama / Dauphin Island Sea Lab  (sdalessandri@disl.org)

Raymond Banister, University of Alabama / Dauphin Island Sea Lab  (rbanister@disl.org)

Mark Warner, University of Delaware  (mwarner@udel.edu)

Serena Hackerott, University of Delaware  (shackero@udel.edu)

Aleksandra Crossman, University of Delaware  (alekcros@udel.edu)

Kenneth Hoadley, University of Alabama / Dauphin Island Sea Lab  (khoadley@disl.org)