Corals of the genus Porites are a locally abundant component of the epibiont community on mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize
Files
Accepted manuscript
Date
2019-09-24
DOI
Authors
Bengtsson, Zachary
Kuhn, Kirsten
Battaglino, Anya
Li, Allen
Talbot, Matthew
Wafapoor, Marzie
Atta, Calder
Kowalski, Michael
Margolis, Sarah
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
John Finnerty, Zachary Bengtsson, Kirsten Kuhn, Anya Battaglino, Allen Li, Matthew Talbot, Marzie Wafapoor, Calder Atta, Michael Kowalski, Sarah Margolis, Ekaterina Rar, Elizabeth Burmester, Kathryn Lesneski, Karina Scavo Lord, Leslie Kaufman, Nathan Stewart. "Corals of the genus Porites are a locally abundant component of the epibiont community on mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize." Caribbean Naturalist, Volume 2019, Issue 67, pp. 1 - 16.
Abstract
Mangroves are generally regarded as inhospitable for corals, but recent reports suggest they provide ecological refuge for some species. We surveyed diverse mangrove habitats on Turneffe Atoll, Belize, documenting 127 colonies of Porites divaricata (Thin Finger Coral) along 1858 m of mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye and a much more diverse coral assemblage at Crooked Creek. At Calabash, corals were highly clumped, and varied widely in size and morphology, including large well-arborized colonies, encrusting forms with few branches, and new recruits with no branches, suggesting an age-structuredpopulation exhibiting extensive morphological plasticity. The data described here contributeto an emerging picture of mangroves as potentially critical habitat for many Caribbeancoral species.