Browsing by Author "Hoeksema, Bert W."
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Ascension Island shallow-water Zoantharia (Hexacorallia: Cnidaria) and their zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium)Publication . Reimer, James Davis; Lorion, Julien; Irei, Yuka; Hoeksema, Bert W.; Wirtz, PeterThis is the first report on the Zoantharia fauna (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia) of the isolated oceanic island of Ascension, southern Atlantic, where zoantharians are a dominant component of the shallow-water benthos. Specimens from two expeditions (1983, 2012) were examined regarding external morphology and molecular phylogeny using three DNA markers, which confirmed the presence of four zoantharian species: Palythoa caribaeorum; Palythoa aff. clavata; Parazoanthus swiftii; and Zoanthus sp. Two of these, Palythoa aff. clavata and Parazoanthus swiftii, were previously only known from the western Atlantic and Caribbean. Molecular examination of the zooxanthellae (=Symbiodinium spp.) of Palythoa specimens showed that they were in association with only one type, subclade C1.
- Over 130 years of survival by a small, isolated population of Favia gravida corals at Ascension Island (South Atlantic)Publication . Hoeksema, Bert W.; Wirtz, Peter
- Shallow-water scleractinian corals of Ascension Island, Central South AtlanticPublication . Zibrowius, Helmut; Wirtz, Peter; Nunes, Flavia L. D.; Hoeksema, Bert W.; Benzoni, FrancescaThe presence of five shallow-water scleractinian species at Ascension Island is confirmed, i.e. Favia gravida, Madracis sp., Siderastrea radians, Polycyathus atlanticus and Rhizosmilia gerdae. The three former are zooxanthellate, the two latter azooxanthellate. A sixth species, Cladocora debilis (azooxanthellate), dredged from moderately deep water is also expected to occur in shallow water. Madracis sp. and P. atlanticus are new records for the island. A previous record of Astrangia solitaria at Ascension is now referred to as P. atlanticus. Favia gravida, S. radians and C. debilis are amphi-Atlantic. Rhizosmilia gerdae is currently known only from Ascension Island and the Western Atlantic. None of the species are endemic to Ascension Island. No member of the family Dendrophylliidae has as yet been found at Ascension, whereas that family is represented at its nearest neighbour, St Helena Island.