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Prevalence, consequences, and mitigation of fireworm predation on endangered staghorn coral

Document (DOC) | Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:26529 | Updated: January 19, 2023 | Published / External

Summary

Item Identification

Keywords

Document Info

Support Roles

Extents

Access Info

URLs

Catalog Details

DOI: 10.3354/meps10996

Description

In the current era of reduced coral populations, the effects of predation are likely to compromise the growing investment in restocking of imperiled coral populations and may be a strong, chronic deterrent of natural population recovery. A 2 yr surveillance study documented highly variable prevalence of predation by the fireworm Hermodice carunculata on both wild (0 to 51%) and restocked (0 to 53%) populations of the Caribbean staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis, but significantly higher prevalence overall in 2012 than 2011. In addition, individual predation scars (branch tips) were tagged to determine the costs of predation both in terms of healing time (i.e. to recover positive rates of branch growth) and in terms of likelihood of progressive diseaselike tissue loss on preyed branch tips. The risk of preyed branches showing progressive tissue loss at the subsequent survey was 10 times higher than for non-preyed branches. A survival analysis indicated an estimated mean time to healing for preyed branch tips of 110 ± 6 d (95% confidence). Finally, an experiment conducted in 2013 tested whether removing the dead skeleton from preyed branch tips could accelerate recovery. Indeed, this intervention shortened the mean time to formationof a new apical tip to 46 d (range: 22 to 92 d). Thus, fireworm predation imposes significant costs on both remnant wild and restocked staghorn colonies, but removing dead tips, rather than leaving them to bioerode, is a useful strategy to accelerate recovery from predation.

Document Type
Journal article

Document Format
Acrobat Portable Document Format

Publication Date
2014-12-03

Acropora cervicornis

No contact information is available for this record.

Please contact the owner organization (SEFSC) for inquiries on this record.

Geographic Area 1

-80.47016666667° W, -80.29733333333° E, 25.12416666667° N, 24.94633333333° S

Reef sites in the upper Keys ranging from Conch reef to Key Largo Dry Rocks; specifically

Reef Names

Molasses

Aquarius

Conch Shallow

KL Dry Rocks

Tav Patch A

Tav Patch B

Little Conch

CRF Nursery

Time Frame 1
2011 - 2013

Title:	Prevalence, consequences, and mitigation of fireworm predation on endangered staghorn coral
Short Name:	Fireworm effects on staghorn coral
Status:	Completed
Publication Date:	2014-12-03
Abstract:	In the current era of reduced coral populations, the effects of predation are likely to compromise the growing investment in restocking of imperiled coral populations and may be a strong, chronic deterrent of natural population recovery. A 2 yr surveillance study documented highly variable prevalence of predation by the fireworm Hermodice carunculata on both wild (0 to 51%) and restocked (0 to 53%) populations of the Caribbean staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis, but significantly higher prevalence overall in 2012 than 2011. In addition, individual predation scars (branch tips) were tagged to determine the costs of predation both in terms of healing time (i.e. to recover positive rates of branch growth) and in terms of likelihood of progressive diseaselike tissue loss on preyed branch tips. The risk of preyed branches showing progressive tissue loss at the subsequent survey was 10 times higher than for non-preyed branches. A survival analysis indicated an estimated mean time to healing for preyed branch tips of 110 ± 6 d (95% confidence). Finally, an experiment conducted in 2013 tested whether removing the dead skeleton from preyed branch tips could accelerate recovery. Indeed, this intervention shortened the mean time to formationof a new apical tip to 46 d (range: 22 to 92 d). Thus, fireworm predation imposes significant costs on both remnant wild and restocked staghorn colonies, but removing dead tips, rather than leaving them to bioerode, is a useful strategy to accelerate recovery from predation.
Other Citation Details:	Miller MW, Marmet C, Cameron CM, Williams DE. (2014) Prevalence, consequences, and mitigation of fireworm predation on endangered staghorn coral. Mar Ecol Prog Ser. 516: 187–194. doi: 10.3354/meps10996
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):	10.3354/meps10996

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus	Keyword
World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS)	Acropora cervicornis Loading...
UNCONTROLLED
None	Corallivory
None	fireworm predation
None	Hermodice carunculata
None	Restoration
None	staghorn coral

Thesaurus

Keyword

World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS)

Acropora cervicornis

UNCONTROLLED

None

Corallivory

None

fireworm predation

None

Hermodice carunculata

None

Restoration

None

staghorn coral

Temporal Keywords

Thesaurus	Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None	2011-2012

Thesaurus

Keyword

UNCONTROLLED

None

2011-2012

Spatial Keywords

Thesaurus	Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None	Florida Keys

Thesaurus

Keyword

UNCONTROLLED

None

Florida Keys

Document Type:	Journal article
Format:	Acrobat Portable Document Format
Status Code:	Published

Co-Author

CC ID: 355284

Date Effective From:	2014
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person):	Williams, Dana E
Address:	75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami, FL 33149 Unites States
Email Address:	dana.williams@noaa.gov
Phone:	305-767-3262
URL:	https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dana_Williams3

Co-Author

CC ID: 355275

Date Effective From:	2014
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person):	Cameron, Caitlin
Address:	75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami, FL 33149 USA
Email Address:	caitlin.cameron@noaa.gov

View Historical Support Roles

Currentness Reference:	Ground Condition

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 355286

W° Bound:	-80.47016666667
E° Bound:	-80.29733333333
N° Bound:	25.12416666667
S° Bound:	24.94633333333
Description	Reef sites in the upper Keys ranging from Conch reef to Key Largo Dry Rocks; specifically Reef Names Molasses Aquarius Conch Shallow KL Dry Rocks Tav Patch A Tav Patch B Little Conch CRF Nursery

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 355287

Time Frame Type:	Range
Start:	2011
End:	2013

Security Class:	Unclassified
Data Access Policy:	Open to everyone
Data Access Procedure:	download from provided links
Data Access Constraints:	None

URL 1

CC ID: 213565

URL:	https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10996
Name:	Landing Page of article
URL Type:	Online Resource

Catalog Item ID:	26529
GUID:	gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:26529
Metadata Record Created By:	Margaret W Miller
Metadata Record Created:	2015-08-19 13:26+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By:	Lee M Weinberger
Metadata Record Last Modified:	2023-01-19 17:44+0000
Metadata Record Published:	2022-04-27
Owner Org:	SEFSC
Metadata Publication Status:	Published Externally
Do Not Publish?:	N
Metadata Last Review Date:	2022-04-27
Metadata Review Frequency:	1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date:	2023-04-27

Prevalence, consequences, and mitigation of fireworm predation on endangered staghorn coral

Summary

Document Information

Controlled Theme Keywords

Contact Information

Extents

Item Identification

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Temporal Keywords

Spatial Keywords

Document Information

Support Roles

Co-Author

Co-Author

Extents

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

Access Information

URLs

URL 1

Catalog Details