Preliminary survey of zooxanthellate zoanthids (Cnidaria : Hexacorallia) of the Galapagos, and associated symbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium spp.)
Despite their presence in almost all marine ecosystems, the zoanthids (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Zoantharia) are poorly studied, in large part due to a lack of useful morphological identification characters. Recent research combining morphology with DNA markers has begun to shed new light on diversity and distribution of the order Zoantharia. Here, preliminary findings on the diversity and distribution of zooxanthellate zoanthid species from the genera Zoanthus and Palythoa are presented, documenting these genera in the Galapagos for the first time. A brief description of the species found is provided. Zoanthus and Palythoa appear to be limited in the Galapagos to rocky shores in warm shallow sublittoral and infralittoral waters (minimum temperature >18°C), isolated from the colder water that dominates much of the archipelago. Preliminary results from the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA sequences of symbiotic dinoflagellates suggest that both Zoanthus and Palythoa spp. in the Galapagos possess only Symbiodinium clade C. Brief descriptions of the zooxanthellate zoanthid species found in the Galapagos are provided.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | article biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2009-06
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| Subjects: | Ecology, Zoantharia, Zoanthus, Isaurus, Acrozoanthus, Palythoa, tuberculosa, mutuki, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/36239 |
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