Pioneer settlement of the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus (Esper, 1794) on plastic

Elisa Bergami,Lisa Vaccari,Armando Macali,Alexander Semenov,Erik Caroselli,Ilaria Corsi

doi:10.1007/s00338-021-02131-9

Abstract

Larval settlement is a critical step for sessile benthic species such as corals, whose ability to thrive on diverse natural and anthropogenic substrates may lead to a competitive advantage in the colonization of new environments with respect to a narrow tolerance for a specific kind of substratum. Plastic debris, widespread in marine waters, provides a large, motile, and solid substratum supporting a highly diverse biological community. Here we present the first observation of a floating plastic bottle colonized by the deep-sea coral Desmophyllum dianthus. The density pattern and co-occurring species composition suggest a pioneer behavior of this coral species, whose peculiar morphologic plasticity response when interacting with the plastic substrate (i.e., low density polyethylene) has not been observed before. The tolerance of D. dianthus for such plastic substrate may affect ecological processes in deep water environments, disrupting interspecific substrate competition in the benthic community.

Highlights

Factors such as habitat selection and larval recruitment may have profound implications for sessile benthic species such as corals, in which planktonic larvae constitute the dispersal stage of their life history (Burgess et al 2012)
Larval settlement is a critical step for sessile benthic species such as corals, whose ability to thrive on diverse natural and anthropogenic substrates may lead to a competitive advantage in the colonization of new environments with respect to a narrow tolerance for a specific kind of substratum
We describe some puzzling aspects about the first observation of a pioneer settlement of the solitary, deep- and cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus (Esper, 1794) on a floating plastic bottle retrieved during a field campaign on the Central Mediterranean Sea (Thyrrhenian Sea)

Summary

Introduction

Factors such as habitat selection and larval recruitment may have profound implications for sessile benthic species such as corals, in which planktonic larvae constitute the dispersal stage of their life history (Burgess et al 2012). Abstract Larval settlement is a critical step for sessile benthic species such as corals, whose ability to thrive on diverse natural and anthropogenic substrates may lead to a competitive advantage in the colonization of new environments with respect to a narrow tolerance for a specific kind of substratum. We present the first observation of a floating plastic bottle colonized by the deep-sea coral Desmophyllum dianthus.

Results

Conclusion