Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-18T20:40:24.830Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New records of scleractinian corals from shallow waters of the Ionian coast of Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2013

Douglas Fenner ,
Francesca Riolo  and
Michele Vittorio
Douglas Fenner
Affiliation:
Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources, PO Box 7390, Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799, USA
Francesca Riolo*
Affiliation:
Mappamondo GIS, Via Rubens 3, 43100 Parma, Italy
Michele Vittorio
Affiliation:
Mappamondo GIS, Via Rubens 3, 43100 Parma, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F. Riolo, Mappamondo GIS, Via Rubens 3, 43100 Parma, Italy email: francesca.riolo@mappamondogis.com
Get access

Abstract

A total of ten coral species are reported from the Capo Rizzuto (Calabria) Marine Protected Area on the Ionian coast of Italy. Two species, Polycyathus muellerae and Paracyathus pulchellus, are new records for the Ionian Sea, a finding that expands their current known distribution range. Eight species are new records for the Ionian coast of Italy. Another species, Astroides calycularis, was identified from a photograph taken in the area, but its presence was not confirmed in the field. The solitary zooxanthellate coral Balanophyllia europaea was found associated with the yellow encrusting coralline alga, Lithophyllum pustulatum, which represents a novel observation requiring further investigation.

Keywords

MediterraneanIonian SeacoralsScleractiniaazooxanthellate
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 6 , 2013 , e136
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bianchi, C.N. (2007) Biodiversity issues for the forthcoming tropical Mediterranean Sea. Hydrobiologia 590, 7–21.Google Scholar
Fenner, D., Riolo, F. and Vittorio, M. (2009) A survey of the corals within diving depths of Capo Rizzuto Marine Protected Area, Calabria, southern Italy, 2008. Report to Capo Rizzuto MPA, 69 pp. Available at: http://www.riservamarinacaporizzuto.it/download/Report_coralli_2008.pdf (accessed 15 June 2013).Google Scholar
Goffredo, S. and Zaccanti, F. (2004) Laboratory observations of larval behavior and metamorphosis in the Mediterranean solitary coral Balanophyllia europaea (Scleractinia, Dendrophylliidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 74, 449–458.Google Scholar
Grubelic, I., Antolic, B., Despalatovic, M., Grbec, B. and Beg Paklar, G. (2004) Effect of climatic fluctuations on the distribution of warm-water coral Astroides calycularis in the Adriatic Sea: new record and review. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84, 599–602.Google Scholar
Heyward, A.J. and Negri, A.P. (1999) Natural inducers for coral larval metamorphosis. Coral Reefs 18, 273–279.Google Scholar
Kruzic, P., Zibrowius, H. and Pozar-Domac, A. (2002) Actiniaria and Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) from the Adriatic Sea (Croatia): first records, confirmed occurrences and significant range extensions of certain species. Italian Journal of Zoology 69, 345–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morse, A.N.C. and Morse, D.E. (1996) Flypapers for coral and other planktonic larvae. BioScience 46, 254–262.Google Scholar
Pessani, D., Morri, C. and Esposito, F. (2005) La checklist della fauna marina Italiana. Cnidaria, Antozoa. Società Italiana de Biologia Marina. Available at: http://www.sibm.it/CHECKLIST/principalechecklistfauna.htm (accessed 5 June 2013).Google Scholar
Zibrowius, H. (1980) Les Scléractiniaires de la Méditerranée et de l'Atlantique nord-oriental. Mémoires de l'Institut Océanographique, Monaco 11, 1–284, 107 pl.Google Scholar