Ecology of the Leptoconchus spp. (Gastropoda, Coralliophilidae) infesting Fungiidae (Anthozoa, Madreporaria)
Massin, C. (2000). Ecology of the Leptoconchus spp. (Gastropoda, Coralliophilidae) infesting Fungiidae (Anthozoa, Madreporaria). Bull. Kon. Belg. Inst. Natuurwet. Biologie 70: 235-252
In: Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. Biologie = Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. Biologie. Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen: Bruxelles. ISSN 0374-6429, more
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| Abstract |
Underwater surveys of 27,000 mushroom corals (Fungiidae) at Papua New Guinea (Laing Island, Madang and Motupore), Singapore, the Maldives (Ari Atoll and South Male Atoll), the Red Sea (Hurghada), Indonesia (Makassar, Sulawesi) and examination of 1,000 fungiids from museum collections (mainly National Museum of Natural History, Leiden) have shown that 36 coral species were infested by several species of Coralliophilidae belonging to the genus Leptoconchus. The rate of infestation of the mushroom coral assemblage varied from 0 to 7%. The two most infested Fungiidae were Fungia ( Fungia) fungites and F. (Verrillofungia) repanda. At the east side of Laing Island, F. ( F. ) fungites reached an infestation rate of 19%, the highest value ever recorded. The rate of infestation was positively correlated with hydrodynamics and negatively with turbidity. It was, however, not correlated with the density of the fungiid assemblage. Infestation was maximum in shallow water (1-5 m); nearly no Leptoconchus spp. were found deeper than 20 m. Place of settle- ment of the mollusc (coral centre or edge), opening of the burrow (oral/aboral side of the coral) and deformation of coral skeleton varied according to the coral species infested. These variations seemed specifically related to the different Leptoconchus species rather than the infested host species. |
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