Abstract
THE natural food of gorgonians, or any other soft corals, inhabiting coral reefs is unknown, but net photosynthesis to respiration ratios from 2 to 5 have been reported for isolated colonies of five species of Caribbean reef gorgonians in laboratory experiments1,2. This photosynthesis is attributed to the dinoflagellate symbionts living in the gastrodermal cells of these and other so-called hermatypic corals. There is also evidence that members of the gorgonian family Xeniidae in the Red Sea draw most of their nutrition from this photosynthesis3. Observations reported here suggest that gorgonians from Caribbean reefs may also depend for nutrition on their algal symbionts.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Burkholder, P. R., and Burkholder, L. M., Amer. J. Bot., 47, 866 (1960).
Kanwisher, J. W., and Wainwright, S. A., Biol. Bull., 133, 378 (1967).
Gohar, H. A. F., Pub. Mar. Biol. Sta. Ghardaga, 2, 25 (1940).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
WAINWRIGHT, S. Diurnal Activity of Hermatypic Gorgonians. Nature 216, 1041 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/2161041a0
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2161041a0
This article is cited by
-
Productivity links morphology, symbiont specificity and bleaching in the evolution of Caribbean octocoral symbioses
The ISME Journal (2015)
-
What is hermatypic?
Coral Reefs (1985)
-
Effects of depth on the feeding capabilities of two octocorals
Marine Biology (1983)
-
Diel cycles of expansion and contraction in coral reef anthozoans
Marine Biology (1977)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.