. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. CORAL RESPIRATION 189 cc O 1-. rAu -6 •5 •4 Q K22 •1 20 40 60 80 DEPTH M FIGURE 1. Weight-specific respiration rate of corals plotted against the depth at which the animals were living. Solid triangle, Acropora:—Ap Acropora palnwta; Ac Acropora cervi- cornis; solid diamond, Agaricia—Al Agaricia lamarcki; Au Agaricia undata; Ag Agaricia grahamae; solid circle, Montastrca annularis; solid square, Montastrea cavernosa. The two open symbols represent specimens transplanted from shallow to deep water and vice versa. Vertical
. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. CORAL RESPIRATION 189 cc O 1-. rAu -6 •5 •4 Q K22 •1 20 40 60 80 DEPTH M FIGURE 1. Weight-specific respiration rate of corals plotted against the depth at which the animals were living. Solid triangle, Acropora:—Ap Acropora palnwta; Ac Acropora cervi- cornis; solid diamond, Agaricia—Al Agaricia lamarcki; Au Agaricia undata; Ag Agaricia grahamae; solid circle, Montastrca annularis; solid square, Montastrea cavernosa. The two open symbols represent specimens transplanted from shallow to deep water and vice versa. Vertical bars indicate standard deviations. 20 m and 40 m. The decrease in rate of respiration with increase in depth is also evident when surface-area-related respiration rate is plotted (Fig. 2). Most other Caribbean corals exhibit a much more restricted depth-distribution range, rendering intraspecific comparisons impossible. However, it is possible to make interspecific comparisons among species of Agaricia with very similar growth forms, but with differing depth distributions. Again from Figures 1 and 2 it can be seen that specimens of Agaricia lamarcki from 40 m have markedly higher rates of respiration than those of A. undata from 65 m or of A. grahamae from 80 m. In order to test whether the intraspecific differences in respiration rates are phenotypic responses to the particular environment at that depth, reciprocal trans- plantation experiments were carried out. Specimens of M. cavernosa and M. annularis from 40 m were transplanted to a depth of 10 m and vice versa. After 5 weeks they were removed from the reef, and their respiration rates measured. It was noted in both species that the 40-m specimens transplanted to 10 m had expelled most of their zooxanthellae but the corals nevertheless were apparently in good condition. The shallow corals transplanted to 40 m showed no apparent change. Regrettably, because of logistic difficulties, respiration-rate values are on
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlilliefrankrat, booksubjectbiology, booksubjectzoology
