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<p>Gorgonian corals are common members of hardbottom benthic communities worldwide, from shallow reefs to the deep sea. Most species exhibit upright branched colonies with polyps adapted for feeding on particles from flowing seawater. Some shallow-water gorgonian species maintain photosynthetic zooxanthellae, which provide an additional source of nutrition. Does dissolved organic material (DOM) in seawater represent another potential food source for gorgonians? In this study, we used laboratory incubation experiments to test the ability of 7 species of gorgonians to draw down 2 different sources of labile DOM from seawater: an amino acid mixture and a monosaccharide mixture. Experiments were performed using 3 azooxanthellate species (<i>Muricea pendula</i>,<i> Swiftia exserta</i>,<i> Thesea nivea)</i> and 4 zooxanthellate species (<i>Antillogorgia bipinnata</i>,<i> Eunicea flexuosa</i>,<i> Plexaura homomalla</i>,<i> Pterogorgia anceps</i>). There was net DOM drawdown for 2 of 4 zooxanthellate species incubated with the amino acid mixture in both darkness and light, measured as a change in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) after a 6 h incubation. There was no net drawdown of the monosaccharide mixture by any gorgonian species. Differences in DOM drawdown across gorgonian species could not be attributed to differences in colony fragment wet mass or polyp oral disk surface area. These results are contrary to past consensus views of the capacity of invertebrate epithelia to draw down DOM, possibly due to different analytical techniques. DOM augmentation is unlikely to be useful in gorgonian propagation for restoration.</p>

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Laboratory assessments of the drawdown of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by gorgonian corals

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月21日

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  • Kyler M. Sloan-Verkler,
  • Megan C. Laufer,
  • Joseph R. Pawlik

摘要

Gorgonian corals are common members of hardbottom benthic communities worldwide, from shallow reefs to the deep sea. Most species exhibit upright branched colonies with polyps adapted for feeding on particles from flowing seawater. Some shallow-water gorgonian species maintain photosynthetic zooxanthellae, which provide an additional source of nutrition. Does dissolved organic material (DOM) in seawater represent another potential food source for gorgonians? In this study, we used laboratory incubation experiments to test the ability of 7 species of gorgonians to draw down 2 different sources of labile DOM from seawater: an amino acid mixture and a monosaccharide mixture. Experiments were performed using 3 azooxanthellate species (Muricea pendula, Swiftia exserta, Thesea nivea) and 4 zooxanthellate species (Antillogorgia bipinnata, Eunicea flexuosa, Plexaura homomalla, Pterogorgia anceps). There was net DOM drawdown for 2 of 4 zooxanthellate species incubated with the amino acid mixture in both darkness and light, measured as a change in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) after a 6 h incubation. There was no net drawdown of the monosaccharide mixture by any gorgonian species. Differences in DOM drawdown across gorgonian species could not be attributed to differences in colony fragment wet mass or polyp oral disk surface area. These results are contrary to past consensus views of the capacity of invertebrate epithelia to draw down DOM, possibly due to different analytical techniques. DOM augmentation is unlikely to be useful in gorgonian propagation for restoration.