PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #12: Marine Ecology.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC
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Growth strategies of the sea whip gorgonian Junceella fragilis .
CHANG, WAN-LAN*,1, DAI, CHANG-FENG1, FAN, TUNG-YUNG2, 1 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan2 National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung, Taiwan
ABSTRACT- Junceella fragilis is a common sea whip on Indo-Pacific coral reefs. It usually grows on the reef surface with relatively high wave or current forces. In this study, we investigate the morphological adaptation of J. fragilis from a biomechanical view. Coral samples from 7 to 156 cm in length were collected from 2 sites in southern Taiwan. The weight of water content, flesh tissue, sclerites, and axial skeleton, as well as the length of colony were measured. The weight proportions of flesh tissue and water content were 26-31% and 5-8%, respectively. Small colonies have a lower proportion of axial skeleton (11%) and higher proportion of sclerites (48%), while large colonies have a higher proportion of axial skeleton (41%) and lower proportion of sclerites (16%). The opposite relationship between axial skeleton and sclerite weights with colony length suggests that large colonies invest more energy in constructing their axial skeleton and the axial skeleton may play an important role for resisting water forces.
KEY WORDS: Growth strategy, gorgonian, sclerite, axial skeleton