Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T19:10:58.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The population of Errina aspera (Hydrozoa: Stylasteridae) of the Messina Strait (Mediterranean Sea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Eva Salvati ,
Michela Angiolillo ,
Marzia Bo ,
Giorgio Bavestrello ,
Michela Giusti ,
Andrea Cardinali ,
Stefania Puce ,
Costanza Spaggiari ,
Silvestro Greco  and
Simonepietro Canese
Eva Salvati
Affiliation:
ISPRA (ex ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, I-00166 Roma, Italy
Michela Angiolillo
Affiliation:
ISPRA (ex ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, I-00166 Roma, Italy
Marzia Bo*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Giorgio Bavestrello
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Michela Giusti
Affiliation:
ISPRA (ex ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, I-00166 Roma, Italy
Andrea Cardinali
Affiliation:
ISPRA (ex ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, I-00166 Roma, Italy
Stefania Puce
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Costanza Spaggiari
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Silvestro Greco
Affiliation:
ISPRA (ex ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, I-00166 Roma, Italy
Simonepietro Canese
Affiliation:
ISPRA (ex ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, I-00166 Roma, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M. Bo DiSMar, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Errina aspera is the only species belonging to the family Stylasteridae known from the Mediterranean Sea. The distribution of this species includes the Messina Strait, the Gibraltar Strait and the Atlantic coast of Morocco. In spite of the taxonomic and biogeographical importance of this species, no studies were conducted on its population structure in the Messina Strait. Here we report a study carried out with the aid of a ROV on a horizontal transect 350 m long at a depth comprised between 83 and 105 m where an extremely dense population of this stylasterid (101.4 ± 13.3 m−2) was recorded. The main components of the benthic community other than E. aspera are the coralline alga Lithothamnion philippii and the white zoanthid Epizoanthus sp. The colonies of E. aspera have a height ranging between 1.2 and 18.8 cm (4.1 ± 0.1 cm on average); they generally show a bi-dimensional, fan shaped morphology, but three-dimensional, brush-like specimens are also observed. The size–frequency distribution of the colony height is unimodal with a mode in the classes of 3–5 cm and a long tail of rare large colonies suggesting that the current may act as a limiting factor for the colony growth. The association with the gastropod ovulid Pedicularia sicula is confirmed.

Keywords

stylasteridErrina asperatwilight zoneROV imagingMessina Strait
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Issue 7 , November 2010 , pp. 1331 - 1336
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Álvarez-Pérez, G., Busquets, P., De Mol, B., Sandoval, N.G., Canals, M. and Casamor, J.L. (2005) Deep-water coral occurrences in the Strait of Gibraltar. In Freiwald, A. and Roberts, J.M. (eds) Cold-water corals and ecosystems. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, pp. 207–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aradas, A. and Benoit, L. (1876) Conchigliologia vivente marina della Sicilia e delle isole che la circondano. Parte terza. Atti dell'Accademia Gioenia di Scienze Naturali, Catania 6, 227–324.Google Scholar
Arnaud, P.M. and Zibrowius, H. (1979) L'association Pedicularia sicula–Errina aspera en Méditerrranée (Gastropoda Prosobranchia et Hydrocorallia Stylasterina). Rapport de la Commission Internationale pour la Mer Méditerranée 25/26, 123–124.Google Scholar
Braga-Henriques, A., Carreiro-Silva, M., Porteiro, F., Matos, V., Sampaio, I., Ocaña, O. and Ávila, S. (2009) Nota sobre a associação entre o gastrópode Pedicularia sicula (Cænogastropoda: Ovulidæ) e o hidrocoral Errina dabneyi (Hydrozoa: Stylasteridæ) nos Açores. Portugala 13, 9–10.Google Scholar
Bo, M., Bavestrello, G., Canese, S., Giusti, M., Salvati, E., Angiolillo, M. and Greco, S. (2009) Characteristics of a black coral meadow in the twilight zone of the central Mediterranean Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 397, 53–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bo, M., Bavestrello, G., Canese, S., Giusti, M., Angiolillo, M., Cerrano, C., Salvati, E. and Greco, S. (2010) Coral assemblages off the Calabrian Coast (South Italy) with new observations on living colonies of Antipathes dichotoma. Italian Journal of Zoology, DOI: 10.1080/11250001003652619.Google Scholar
Brooke, S. and Stone, R. (2007) Reproduction of deep-water hydrocorals (family Stylasteridae) from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Bulletin of Marine Science 81, 519–532.Google Scholar
Cairns, S.D. (1983) A generic revision of the Stylasterina (Coelenterata: Hydrozoa). Part I. Description of the genera. Bulletin of Marine Science 33, 427–508.Google Scholar
Chong, A.K. and Stratford, P. (2002) Underwater digital stereo-observations technique for red hydrocoral study. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 68, 745–751.Google Scholar
Cortese, G. and De Domenico, E. (1990) Some considerations on the Levantine Intermediate Water distribution in the Strait of Messina. Bollettino di Oceanologia Teorica Applicata 8, 197–207.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1854) A monograph on the sub-class Cirripedia: with figures of all the species. Volume 2. The Balanidae. London: The Ray Society.Google Scholar
Di Natale, A. and Mangano, A. (1985) Pedicularia sicula Swainson, 1840, in the Strait of Messina: a preliminary report. Rapport de la Commission Internationale pour la Mer Méditerranée 29, 343–344.Google Scholar
Etnoyer, P. and Morgan, L. E. (2006) Habitat-forming deep-sea corals in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. In Freiwald, A. and Roberts, J.M. (eds) Cold-waters corals and ecosystems. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, pp. 331–343.Google Scholar
Fredj, G. and Giermann, G. (1982) Observations en soucoupe plongeante SP 300 des peuplements d'Errina aspera (L.) (Stylasterina) du détroit de Messine. Téthys 10, 280–286.Google Scholar
Gualtieri, N. (1742) Index Testarum Conchyliorum quae adservantum in museo Nicolaï Gualtieri et methodice distributae exhibentur. Typographia Caetani Albizzini Folrentie, pp. 1–23.Google Scholar
Häussermann, V. and Försterra, G. (2007) Extraordinary abundance of hydrocorals (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Stylasteridae) in shallow water of the Patagonian fjord region. Polar Biology 30, 487–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heifetz, J. (2002) Coral in Alaska: distribution, abundance, and species associations. Hydrobiologia 471, 19–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohler, K.E. and Gill, S.M. (2006) Coral Point Count with Excel extensions (CPCe): a visual basic program for the determination of coral and substrate coverage using random point count methodology. Computers and Geosciences 32, 1259–1269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastrototaro, F., D'Onghia, G., Corriero, G., Matarrese, A., Maiorano, P., Panetta, P., Gherardi, M., Longo, C., Rosso, A., Sciuto, F., Sanfilippo, R., Gravili, C., Boero, F., Taviani, M. and Tursi, A. (2010) Biodiversity of the white coral bank off Cape Santa Maria di Leuca (Mediterranean Sea): an update. Deep-Sea Research II 57, 412–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, K.J., Mundy, C.N. and Chadderton, W.L. (2004) Ecological and genetic evidence of the vulnerability of shallow-water populations of the stylasterid hydrocoral Errina novaezelandiae in New Zealand's fiords. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 14, 75–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosetti, F. (1988) Some news on the currents in the Strait of Messina. Bollettino di Oceanologia Teorica ed Applicata 6, 119–201.Google Scholar
Schuchert, P. (2008) The European athecate hydroids and their medusae (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria): Filifera Part 3. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 115, 221–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selli, R., Colantoni, P., Fabbri, A., Rossi, S., Borsetti, A.M. and Gallignani, P. (1980) Marine geological investigation on the Messina Strait and its approaches. Giornale di Geologia 42, 1977.Google Scholar
Tomasino, M. (1995) The exploitation of energy in the Straits of Messina. In Guglielmo, L., Manganaro, A. and De Domenico, E. (eds) The Straits of Messina ecosystem. Università Degli Studi di Messina, Dipartimento di Biologia Animale et Ecologia Marina, pp. 49–60.Google Scholar
Vercelli, F. (1925) Il regime delle correnti e delle maree nello Stretto di Messina. Commissione Internazionale del Mediterraneo, Campagne della R. Nave Marsigli negli anni 1922 e 1923, 209 pp.Google Scholar
Vertino, A., Savini, A., Rosso, A., Di Geronimo, I., Mastrototaro, F., Sanfilippo, R., Gay, G. and Etiope, G. (2010) Benthic habitat characterization and distribution from two representative sites of the deep-water SML Coral Mound Province (Mediterranean). Deep-Sea Research II 57, 380–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wisshak, M., López Correa, M., Zibrowius, H., Jakobsen, J. and Freiwald, A. (2009) Skeletal reorganization affects geochemical signals, exemplified in the stylasterid hydrocoral Errina dabneyi (Azores Archipelago). Marine Ecology Progress Series 397, 197–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zibrowius, H. and Cairns, S.D. (1992) Revision of the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Stylasteridæ (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa). Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Westerberg 153, 1–136.Google Scholar