Living upside down: patterns of red coral settlement in a cave.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Larval settlement and intra-specific interactions during the recruitment phase are crucial in determining the distribution and density of sessile marine populations. Marine caves are confined and stable habitats. As such, they provide a natural laboratory to study the settlement and recruitment processes in sessile invertebrates, including the valuable Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum. In the present study, the spatial and temporal variability of red coral settlers in an underwater cave was investigated by demographic and genetic approaches.

Methods

Sixteen PVC tiles were positioned on the walls and ceiling of the Colombara Cave, Ligurian Sea, and recovered after twenty months. A total of 372 individuals of red coral belonging to two different repro

SUBMITTER: Costantini F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5967367 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature