Affiliations 

  • 1 Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Lab, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan
  • 2 Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300, RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700, CC, Groningen, the Netherlands; Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9505, 2300, RA, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: bert.hoeksema@naturalis.nl
  • 3 Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Biology, Chemistry & Marine Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan
  • 4 Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Lab, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan; Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan
Mar Environ Res, 2021 Aug;170:105445.
PMID: 34392055 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105445

Abstract

Offshore Onna Village, Okinawa Island, Japan, there is a large and densely covered coral assemblage of free-living mushroom corals (Scleractinia: Fungiidae) on a reef slope at depths from 20 m to 32 m, covering an area of approximately 350 × 40 m2. From previous research, it is known that migration distances of mushroom corals may depend on coral shapes, coral sizes, substrate, and bottom inclination. However, until now there have been no published examples of regular Fungiidae movement and behavior from typhoon-exposed coastlines, such as those in the western Pacific Ocean. Our surveys across three years offshore Onna Village show that mushroom corals always move in down-slope direction from shallow to deeper reef zones. The results indicated that mushroom corals migrated faster in autumn than in other seasons, and that oval-elongate fungiids, and particularly those with a smooth underside, migrated more quickly than species with other shapes. Surprisingly, we observed a negative relationship between the presence of typhoons and migration rates. We also observed active migration by fungiid individuals to escape situations in which they were threatened to become overgrown by Acropora corals, or when they needed to escape from burial underneath coral debris.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.