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Porites divaricata is a Locally Abundant Component of the Epibiont Community on Mangrove Prop Roots at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize
Zachary A. Bengtsson1, Kirsten M. Kuhn1,2, Anya T. Battaglino2, Allen S. Li2, Matthew N. Talbot1,2, Marzie Wafapoor1,2, Calder J. Atta2, Michael B. Kowalski1,2, Sarah P. Margolis2, Ekaterina Rar2, Elizabeth M. Burmester1, Kathryn C. Lesneski1, Karina Scavo Lord1, Les Kaufman1,2, Nathan L. Stewart1,2, and John R. Finnerty1,2,*
1Biology Department, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA. 2Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA.*Corresponding author.
Caribbean Naturalist, No. 67 (2019)
Abstract
Mangroves are generally regarded as inhospitable for corals, but recent reports suggest they provide ecological refuge for some species. We surveyed diverse mangrove habitats on Turneffe Atoll, Belize, documenting 127 colonies of Porites divaricata (Thin Finger Coral) along 1858 m of mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye and a much more diverse coral assemblage at Crooked Creek. At Calabash, corals were highly clumped, and varied widely in size and morphology, including large well-arborized colonies, encrusting forms with few branches, and new recruits with no branches, suggesting an age-structured population exhibiting extensive morphological plasticity. The data described here contribute to an emerging picture of mangroves as potentially critical habitat for many Caribbean coral species.
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