Octocorals in the Gulf of Aqaba exhibit high photosymbiont fidelity.

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic associations, widespread in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, are of considerable ecological importance. Many tropical coral species are holobionts, formed by the obligate association between a cnidarian host and endosymbiotic dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae. The latter are abundant on coral reefs from very shallow water down to the upper mesophotic zone (30-70 m). The research on scleractinians has revealed that the photosymbiont lineages present in the cnidarian host play an important role in the coral's ability to thrive under different environmental conditions, such as light regime and temperature. However, little is known regarding octocoral photosymbionts, and in particular regarding those found deeper than 30 m. Here, we used ribosomal (ITS2) and chloroplast

SUBMITTER: Liberman R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9732034 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature