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Browsing by Author "Costa, Ana Pedroso de Lima"

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  • The effect of light and heterotrophy in the ex situ culture of the soft coral Sarcophyton cf. glaucum
    Publication . Costa, Ana Pedroso de Lima; Rocha, Rui J. M.; Serrão, Ester
    The increasing demand of corals, either for bioprospecting marine natural products for biomedical purposes, for the marine aquarium trade, or for utilization in coral reefs restoration efforts, has led to the need of cultivating these organisms. The production ex situ allows a better control over biomass production through the optimization of culture protocols. Therefore, it is important to understand the biology and physiology of cultivated organisms, in order to improve culture conditions, maximize growth and reduce production costs. These issues are highly relevant for the economic feasibility of coral aquaculture. Among a varied number of factors affecting coral growth, light (either the Photosynthetically Active Radiation – PAR, or the emitted spectrum) is one of the most important issues for symbiotic corals, due to their association with photosynthetic dinoflagellates of genus Symbiodinium (commonly termed as zooxanthellae). Additionally, the dynamics between autotrophy and heterotrophy also plays a key role in the success of coral growth. The present study was performed to evaluate the effect of: 1) light spectrum (white and blue light), 2) light PAR intensity (50 and 120 μmol quanta.m-2.s-1), 3) heterotrophic feeding (rotifers - Brachionus plicatilis (Müller, 1786)), in the physiology, photobiology and growth of fragments obtained from three mother colonies of the mixotrophic coral Sarcophyton cf. glaucum (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833), cultured ex situ in recirculated systems during 80 days. The supply of rotifers did not affect corals growth and promoted the accumulation of inorganic nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) in the culture water. The effect of light PAR intensities and spectrum as well as the interaction of these factors with heterotrophic feeding did not follow a similar pattern in coral fragments originating from different mother colonies. We concluded that the variability between colonies of the same species can play a key role in the response of corals to the studied parameters. Therefore, in a production scenario, mother colonies should be selected according their specific characteristics, to meet production objectives and culture conditions.
    2015Master thesis Open access Show more