Carbon budget studies of symbiotic cnidarian anemones-evidence in support of some assumptions

Abstract

Current models of carbon flux in symbiotic cnidarians are based on a number of parameters which are particularly difficult to measure directly. One of these is the duration of cytokinesis ( t d ), which in turn affects calculations of the algal-specific growth rate ( μ z ) and the carbon used for growth of the whole algal population ( C μ ). Conventionally a single t d value of 11 h, published from work on symbiotic algae in a tropical jellyfish, has been used even for the algae in Anthopleura elegantissima (Brandt), a temperate zone intertidal anemone. A model testing the effect of varying t d on carbon budget calculations reveals the significance of the choice of t d . Additionally we present evidence for the equivalence of nighttime and daytime respiration rates in A. elegantissima. Finally, the metabolic activity of the insoluble mesogleal matrix of the anemone is shown to be insignificant, and can be ignored without compromising carbon budget calculations.