Geographic Range
Deepwater white coral has a vast geographic range, including the Atlantic coast of
the southeastern United States, the Gulf of Mexico, the western Caribbean, and the
New England seamounts. This species may be found along the coasts of Brazil and West
Africa as well. Outside of the Atlantic Ocean, deepwater white coral may be found
in the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans (latitudinal range
of approximately 56ºS-71ºN). The largest known reef is west of Røst Island in the
Lofoten archipelago, Norway.
- Biogeographic Regions
- nearctic
- palearctic
- ethiopian
- neotropical
- indian ocean
- atlantic ocean
- pacific ocean
- mediterranean sea
- Other Geographic Terms
- holarctic
- cosmopolitan
Habitat
This species is a cold-water stony coral, preferring temperatures of 4-12Âş C. Deepwater
white coral can be seen at depths ranging from 39-3000 m, but is most commonly found
at depths of 200-1000 m. Sunlight does not reach to these depths; this species filters
food from the water column, and therefore is most often found in areas with fast currents.
While this coral requires a hard substrate for attachment, the specific type of substrate
may vary, from small stones to man-made oil rigs.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- polar
- saltwater or marine
Physical Description
This species is a cold-water coral that lives as a polyp throughout its entire lifespan.
Bushy growths branch out and fuse together, forming colonies, known as reefs. Individual
polyps are connected by their skeletons but have no internal connection to each other;
individual skeletons may be up to 12 mm in diameter. Live growths cover dead coral
in the center of a reef; reefs may be strongly calcified, with larger polyps, or delicate,
with smaller polyps. Such variation may be a response to physical conditions, such
as temperature differences. Because the morphology and size of the coral varies, reefs
can be circular, dome-shaped, or elongated. The size of the colony is proportional
to age in a given environment: the bigger the colony, the older the coral. The largest
known intact reef is the Røst Reef, located off the coast of Norway; it is 40 km long
by 3 km wide. Unlike corals found in warmer waters, deepwater white corals do not
have any symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). A
Lophelia
polyp may have up to 16 tentacles surrounding an opening which acts as the animal's
mouth and anus; these tentacles may be seen extending from the reef structure. Polyps
are yellowish, pink, or white in color and are translucent.
- Other Physical Features
- ectothermic
- heterothermic
- radial symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- sexes alike
Development
During sexual reproduction, polyps release oocytes into the water column, where they
are fertilized. This species has a lecithotrophic larval stage; larvae undergo metamorphosis
without consuming external food and do not have a mouth or other feeding structures.
Although the duration of this larval stage is not known, it is thought that larvae
grow for several weeks before settling and attaching to a substrate. Distribution
is likely passive, based on water currents. Once settling, a polyp remains in that
location for the rest of its life. In its sessile stage, the estimated annual growth
rate of polyps is 30 mm.
- Development - Life Cycle
- metamorphosis
- indeterminate growth
Reproduction
There is no available information about the mating systems of this species in the
literature; it is known, however, that all polyps in a given colony are the same sex
and that gametes are released into the water column.
- Mating System
- polygynandrous (promiscuous)
This species is dioecious, meaning that separate individuals are distinctly male or
female. Polyps are broadcast spawners, releasing oocytes or sperm into the water column,
where fertilization and development occur. Each polyp can produce approximately 3,000
oocytes/year, which are released in January and February. Oocytes are very small,
only 140 µm in diameter on average. Asexual reproduction can also occur through fragmentation
or budding.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- seasonal breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- asexual
- fertilization
- broadcast (group) spawning
This species exhibits no parental care beyond the production of gametes.
- Parental Investment
- no parental involvement
Lifespan/Longevity
Live polyps grow on the skeletal remains of coral from previous generations. Polyps
are thought to live no more than 20 years. As a whole, deepwater white coral reefs
may exist for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Behavior
Larvae require a hard substrate in order to settle. After landing on and attaching
to a hard substrate, they may can expand across areas of soft sediment. Polyps live
together in large groups, creating reefs. Reefs develop through “thicket” and “coppice”
stages, forming rings roughly 10-13 m in diameter. “Thicket” refers to a very dense
population of overlapping corals, while “coppice” refers to the outgrowth of new corals
from the remnants of the stump of an older coral. Boring organisms may attack the
central older regions of cold-water corals, leaving a patch with outer living coral
and an inner dead skeleton, creating a habitat that can support a diverse fauna.
Home Range
The home range of individual polyps is limited to the spot in which they settle.
Communication and Perception
There is no information currently available in the literature regarding communication
and perception in this species. In general, however, cnidarians possess a nervous
system composed of noncentralized nerve nets, and they are usually capable of detecting
tactile and chemical stimuli.
Food Habits
Polyps may catch live prey, including zooplankton, calanoid copepods, and euphausiid
crustaceans, by extending their tentacles. When touched by a tentacle, a prey item
is injected with venom by its cnidocytes (stinging cells). This species is a generalist
feeder, even known to consume particles from dead fishes or other animals.
- Primary Diet
- planktivore
- detritivore
- Animal Foods
- zooplankton
- Other Foods
- detritus
Predation
There is no information regarding specific predators of this species reported in the
literature; it is possible that any of the animals living within and around its reefs
may consume polyps.
Ecosystem Roles
This species' reefs sustain high levels of biodiversity. The corals create a three-dimensional
habitat for fish and other organisms and increase the habitat complexity on the continental
shelf, slope, and seamounts. Their hard surfaces act as an attachment point for many
sessile organisms. Organisms that live in these cold-water coral habitats in the Sula
Ridge, for example, include rockfish, saithe, and squat lobsters. Other typical members
of ecosystems created by these reefs include polychaetes, echinoderms, bryozoans,
and many demersal fishes. Cold-water coral habitats are also known to provide increased
food availability, functioning as feeding, breeding, and nursery habitats for many
kinds of fishes. The distribution of this species in the Faroe Islands increases breakage
of internal tidal waves, which is thought to increase vertical nutrient flux, thereby
increasing phytoplankton production. The waves also increase the food available to
benthic feeders farther down the slope.
- Ecosystem Impact
- creates habitat
- Squat lobsters (Superfamily Galatheidae )
- Polychaetes (Class Polychaeta , Phylum Annelida )
- Echinoderms (Phylum Echinodermata )
- Bryozoans Phylum Bryozoa )
- Yellowfin bass ( Anthias nicholsi )
- Striated argentine ( Argentina striata )
- Cusk eel ( Bassogigas sp.)
- Valliant's grenadier ( Bathygadus melanobranchus )
- Bathypterois cf. bigelowi (Order Aulopiformes , Class Actinopterygii )
- Manefish ( Caristius sp.)
- Greeneye ( Chlorophthalmus agassizi )
- Blackfin grenadier ( Coelorinchus caribbaeus )
- Conger eel ( Conger sp.)
- American conger ( Conger oceanicus )
- Red dory ( Cyttopsis rosea )
- Atlantic batfish ( Dibranchus atlanticus )
- Black mullet ( Epigonus pandionis )
- Snowy grouper ( Epinephelus niveatus )
- Duckbill eel ( Facciolella sp.)
- Big rough ( Gephyroberyx darwini )
- Herring smelt ( Glossanodon sp.)
- Freckled stargazer ( Gnathagnus egregius )
- Thorny tinselfish ( Grammicolepis brachiusculus )
- Blackbelly rosefish ( Helicolenus dactylopterus )
- Streamer bass ( Hemanthias aureorubens )
- Silver roughy ( Hoplostethus mediterraneus )
- Western roughy ( Hoplostethus occidentalis )
- Rattail ( Hymenocephalus sp.)
- Barrelfish ( Hyperoglyphe perciformis )
- Scorpionfish ( Idiastion kyphos )
- Morid cod ( Laemonema goodebeanorum )
- Blackfin goosefish ( Lophius gastrophyusus )
- Great northern tilefish ( Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps )
- Western soft head grenadier ( Malacocephalus occidentalis )
- Cusk eel ( Monomitopus sp.)
- Stripefin brotula ( Neobythites marginatus )
- Common Atlantic grenadier ( Nezumia aequalis )
- Smalltooth sand tiger ( Odontaspis ferox )
- Gulf flounder ( Paralichthys albigutta )
- Longnose greeneye ( Parasudis truculenta )
- ( Physiculus karrera )
- Deepwater dab ( Poecilopsetta beanii )
- Saithe ( Pollachius virens )
- Atlantic wreckfish ( Poluprion americanus )
- Longspine scorpionfish ( Pontinus longispinis )
- Highfin scorpionfish ( Pontinus rathbuni )
- Elongate worm eel ( Pseudomyrophis nimius )
- Scorpionfish ( Scorpaenidae sp.)
- Chain cat shark ( Scyliorhinus retifer )
- Rockfish ( Sebastes sp.)
- Deepwater scorpionfish ( Setarches guentheri )
- Roughskin dogfish ( Squalus asper )
- Cuban dogfish ( Squalus cubensis )
- Luminous hake ( Steindachneria argentea )
- Slender tonguefish ( Symphurus marginatus )
- Blackmouth cardinalfish ( Synagrops bellus )
- Cutthroat eel ( Synaphobranchus sp.)
- Atlantic thornyhead ( Trachyscorpia cristulata )
- Gulf hake ( Urophycs cirrata )
- Southern hake ( Urophycis floridana )
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
This species has a positive impact on the commercial fishing industry; without the
habitat created by coral skeletons, many commercially fished species would not be
as abundant.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no known negative effects of this species on humans.
Conservation Status
There are currently no measures in place to protect this species, nor is it considered
endangered or threatened by any agency, although the potential for significant damage
to seabeds by trawling activities is very high. These deep-water reefs had no protection
in the United Kingdom until August 2003, when the Darwin Mounds received protection
under a European Fisheries regulation disallowing the use of bottom trawls for commercial
fishing. Since 2000, cold-water reefs in the Northeast Atlantic, particularly those
in the Darwin Mounds (off the northwest coast of Scotland), have continued to be damaged
by trawling, hydrocarbon exploration, and oil drilling. This species was listed under
CITES Appendix II in 1990, but has not been listed more recently.
Additional Links
Contributors
Emma Shaw (author), The College of New Jersey, Sean Sussman (author), The College of New Jersey, Keith Pecor (editor), The College of New Jersey, Renee Mulcrone (editor), Special Projects, Jeremy Wright (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- Palearctic
-
living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- Ethiopian
-
living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- Neotropical
-
living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- Atlantic Ocean
-
the body of water between Africa, Europe, the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), and the western hemisphere. It is the second largest ocean in the world after the Pacific Ocean.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- Pacific Ocean
-
body of water between the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), Australia, Asia, and the western hemisphere. This is the world's largest ocean, covering about 28% of the world's surface.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- holarctic
-
a distribution that more or less circles the Arctic, so occurring in both the Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographic regions.
Found in northern North America and northern Europe or Asia.
- cosmopolitan
-
having a worldwide distribution. Found on all continents (except maybe Antarctica) and in all biogeographic provinces; or in all the major oceans (Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- polar
-
the regions of the earth that surround the north and south poles, from the north pole to 60 degrees north and from the south pole to 60 degrees south.
- saltwater or marine
-
mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.
- benthic
-
Referring to an animal that lives on or near the bottom of a body of water. Also an aquatic biome consisting of the ocean bottom below the pelagic and coastal zones. Bottom habitats in the very deepest oceans (below 9000 m) are sometimes referred to as the abyssal zone. see also oceanic vent.
- reef
-
structure produced by the calcium carbonate skeletons of coral polyps (Class Anthozoa). Coral reefs are found in warm, shallow oceans with low nutrient availability. They form the basis for rich communities of other invertebrates, plants, fish, and protists. The polyps live only on the reef surface. Because they depend on symbiotic photosynthetic algae, zooxanthellae, they cannot live where light does not penetrate.
- coastal
-
the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.
- abyssal
-
on or near the ocean floor in the deep ocean. Abyssal regions are characterized by complete lack of light, extremely high water pressure, low nutrient availability, and continuous cold (3 degrees C).
- ectothermic
-
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
- heterothermic
-
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
- radial symmetry
-
a form of body symmetry in which the parts of an animal are arranged concentrically around a central oral/aboral axis and more than one imaginary plane through this axis results in halves that are mirror-images of each other. Examples are cnidarians (Phylum Cnidaria, jellyfish, anemones, and corals).
- metamorphosis
-
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
- indeterminate growth
-
Animals with indeterminate growth continue to grow throughout their lives.
- polygynandrous
-
the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- asexual
-
reproduction that is not sexual; that is, reproduction that does not include recombining the genotypes of two parents
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- external fertilization
-
fertilization takes place outside the female's body
- diurnal
-
- active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
- nocturnal
-
active during the night
- sessile
-
non-motile; permanently attached at the base.
Attached to substratum and moving little or not at all. Synapomorphy of the Anthozoa
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- zooplankton
-
animal constituent of plankton; mainly small crustaceans and fish larvae. (Compare to phytoplankton.)
- detritus
-
particles of organic material from dead and decomposing organisms. Detritus is the result of the activity of decomposers (organisms that decompose organic material).
- planktivore
-
an animal that mainly eats plankton
- detritivore
-
an animal that mainly eats decomposed plants and/or animals
References
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