NDLI: Symbiotic crabs maintain coral health by clearing sediments

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Stewart, Hannah L. Holbrook, Sally J. Schmitt, Russell J. Brooks, Andrew J.
Copyright Year	2006
Abstract	Stony corals are the foundation of coral reef ecosystems and form associations with other reef species. Many of these associations may be ecologically important and play a role in maintaining the health and diversity of reef systems, rendering it critical to understand the influence of symbiotic organisms in mediating responses to perturbation. This study demonstrates the importance of an association with trapeziid crabs in reducing adverse effects of sediments deposited on corals. In a field experiment, mortality rates of two species of branching corals were significantly lowered by the presence of crabs. All outplanted corals with crabs survived whereas 45–80% of corals without crabs died within a month. For surviving corals that lacked crabs, growth was slower and tissue bleaching and sediment load were higher. Laboratory experiments revealed that corals with crabs shed substantially more of the sediments deposited on coral surfaces, but also that crabs were most effective at removing grain sizes that were most damaging to coral tissues. The mechanism underlying this symbiotic relationship has not been recognized previously, and its role in maintaining coral health is likely to become even more critical as reefs worldwide experience increasing sedimentation.
Starting Page	609
Ending Page	615
Page Count	7
File Format	PDF
ISSN	07224028
Journal	Coral Reefs
Volume Number	25
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	14320975
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2006-07-26
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Crabs Corals Sediment Trapeziid Coral bleaching Symbiosis Sedimentology Geology Oceanography
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Aquatic Science

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
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4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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