Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2008-11-12
Page range: 56–68
Abstract views: 58
PDF downloaded: 2

An overview of the shallow-water calcified hydroids from Brazil (Hydrozoa: Cnidaria), including the description of a new species

Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Departamento de Biologia, Área de Zoologia, Laboratório de Ambientes Recifais, Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, CEP 52171-900, Brasil
Associação Pernambucana de Defesa da Natureza – ASPAN, Caixa Postal 7862, Recife/PE, 50732-970, Brasil
NSW Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries Conservation Technology Unit, PO Box J321, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia
Department of Systematic Zoology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0163, USA
Coelenterata Calcified hydroids Brazil Millepora Millepora laboreli n. sp. Stylaster roseus

Abstract

Five species of calcified hydroids occur in shallow waters along the Brazilian coast: four milleporids –Millepora alcicornis Linnaeus, Millepora braziliensis Verrill, Millepora nitida Verrill, and a new species, Millepora laboreli – and one stylasterid – Stylaster roseus (Pallas). Compared to the scleractinian corals, the calcified hydroids of Brazil have received little attention. Nevertheless, Milleporidae are an important component of Brazilian reefs, with colonies that can reach up to 2 m in diameter. Among the aspects that have been studied for Millepora spp, their distributions and skeletal morphometries are the most distinctive. Due to their complex taxonomy, several morphometric characters have been used to facilitate their identification. Molecular systematics has also been used as a complementary technique to traditional taxonomic tools. Other aspects of Brazilian Millepora spp, such as their nematocysts, medusae and ecology, have received less attention; nevertheless, the few existing studies reveal several remarkable features of this genus. Comprehensive studies of Brazilian stylasterids are still lacking.

References

  1. Agassiz, L. (1858) The animals of Millepora are hydroid acalephs and not polyps. American Journal of Science and Arts, Series 2, 26, 140–141.

    Amaral, F.D. (1997) Milleporidae (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) do litoral brasileiro. Doctoral thesis. Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 204 pp.

    Amaral, F.D. & Costa, C.F. (1998) Zooxantelas dos hidrocorais Millepora alcicornis e Millepora braziliensis e dos corais Favia gravida e Siderastrea stellata de Pernambuco. Trabalhos Oceanográficos da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 26 (1), 123–133.

    Amaral, F.D., Silva, R.S., Maurício-da-Silva, L. & Solé-Cava, A.M. (1997) Molecular systematics of Millepora alcicornis Linnaeus, 1758 and M. braziliensis Verrill, 1868 (Hydrozoa: Milleporidae) from Brazil. Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, 2, 1577–1580.

    Amaral, F.D., Broadhurst, M.K., Cairns, S.D. & Schlenz, E. (2002) Skeletal morphometry of Millepora occurring in Brazil, including a previously undescribed species. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 115, 681–695.

    Amaral, F.D., Hudson, M.M. & Steiner, A.Q. (2006) Note on the widespread bleaching observed at the Manuel Luiz Marine State Park, Maranhão, Brazil. Arquivos de Ciências do Mar, 39, 138–141.

    Amaral, F.D., Hudson, M.M., Steiner, A.Q. & Ramos, C.A.C. (2007) Corals and calcified hydroids of the Manuel Luiz Marine State Park (State of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil). Biota Neotropica, 7, 73–81.

    Ayre, D.J. & Wills, B.L. (1988) Population structure in the coral Pavona cactus: clonal genotypes show little phenotypic plasticity. Marine Biology, 99, 495–505.

    Boschma, H. (1948) The species problem in Millepora. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 1, 1–115.

    Boschma, H. (1949) The ampullae of Millepora. Proceedings, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 52, 3–15.

    Boschma, H. (1950) Further notes on the ampullae of Millepora. Zoologische Mededelingen, 31, 49–62.

    Boschma, H. (1956) Milleporina and Stylasterina. In: Moore, R.C. (Ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Geological Society of America, New York, pp. 90–106.

    Boschma, H. (1962) On Milleporidae corals from Brazil. Proceedings, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 65, 302–313.

    Cairns, S.D. (1983) A generic revision of the Stylasterina (Coelenterata: Hydrozoa). Part 1: description of the genera. Bulletin of Marine Science, 35, 427–508.

    Cairns, S.D. (1986) A Revision of the Northwest Atlantic Stylasteridae (Coelenterata: Hydrozoa). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 418, 1–131.

    Cairns, S.D. (1992) Worldwide distribution of the Stylasteridae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa). Scientia Marina 56, 125–130.

    Cairns, S.D., Hoeksema, B.W. & Van der Land, J. (1999) Appendix: List of the extant stony corals. Atoll Research Bulletin, 459, 13–46.

    Carricart-Ganivet, J.P. & Beltrán-Torres, A.U. (1993) Skeletal morphologic variation in Montastrea cavernosa (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) at Isla Verde Coral Reef, Veracruz, Mexico. Revista de Biologia Tropical, 41, 559–562.

    de Weerdt, W.H. (1981) Transplantation experiments with Caribbean Millepora species (Hydrozoa, Coelenterata), including some ecological observations on growth forms. Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde, 5151, 1–19.

    de Weerdt, W.H. (1984) Taxonomic characters in Caribbean Millepora species (Hydrozoa, Coelenterata). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde, 54, 243–262.

    de Weerdt, W.H. (1990) Discontinuous distribution of the tropical west Atlantic hydrocoral Millepora squarrosa. Beaufortia, 41, 195–203.

    Freudenthal, H. (1962) Symbiodinium gen. nov. and Symbiodinium microadriaticum sp. nov., a zooxanthella: taxonomy, life cycle, and morphology. Journal of Protozoology, 9, 45–52.

    Garthwaite, R.L., Potts, D.C., Veron, J.E.N. & Done, T.J. (1994) Electrophoretic identification of poritid species (Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Coral Reefs, 13, 49–56.

    Hetzel, B. & Castro, C.B. (1994) Corais do Sul da Bahia. Nova Fronteira, São Paulo, 189 pp.

    Hickson, S.J. (1891) The medusae of Millepora and their relations to the medusiform gonophores of the hydromedusae. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 7, 147–148.

    Hickson, S.J. (1898) On the species of the genus Millepora: a preliminary communication. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1898, 246–257.

    Knowlton, N. (1993) Sibling species in the sea. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 24, 189–216.

    Knowlton, N., Weil, E., Weigt, L.A. & Guzman, H. M. (1992) Sibling species in Montastraea annularis, coral bleaching, and coral climate record. Science, 255, 330–333.

    Laborel, J. (1969) Les Peuplements de madreporaires des cotes tropicales du Brésil. Annales de L'Université D'Abidjan (Série E), 2, 261 pp.

    Laborel, J. (1970) Madréporaires et hydrocoralliaires récifaux gives côtes brésiliennes. Systématique, écologie, répartition verticale et géographique. Résultates Scientifiques des Campagnes de la "Calypso", 9, 171–229.

    Lewis, J.B. (1989) The ecology of Millepora: a review. Coral Reefs, 8, 99–107.

    Lewis, J.B. (1991) The ampullae and medusae of the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata. pp. 165–169 In: Williams, R.B., Cornelius, P.F.S., Hughes, R.G., Robson, E.A. (eds.), Coelenterate biology: recent research on Cnidaria and Ctenophora.

    Lewis, J.B. (2006) Biology and Ecology of the hydrocoral Millepora on coral reefs. Advances in Marine Biology, 50, 1–55.

    Lindner, A., Cairns, S.D. & Cunningham, C.W. (2008) From Offshore to Onshore: Multiple Origins of Shallow-Water Corals from Deep-Sea Ancestors. PLoS ONE 3, 1–6.

    Manchenko, G.P., Moschenko, A.V & Odintsov, V.S. (1993) Biochemical genetics and systematics of Millepora (Coelenterata: Hydrozoa) from the shore of south Vietnam. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 21, 729–735.

    Miller, K.J., Mundy, C.N. & 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 Freshwater Ecosystems, 14, 75–94.

    Moseley, H.N. (1881) Report on certain hydroid, alcyonarian, and madreporarian corals procured during the voyage of H. M. Challenger, in the years 1873–1876. Part 1: On Hydrocorallinae. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of the H. M. S. Challenger, Zoology, 2, 1–101, 209–230.

    Oliveira, M.D.M. (2002) Avaliação do efeito da luz na calcificação do esqueleto do hidróide calcário Millepora alcicornis Linné, 1758, em experimentos in vitro. Masters Dissertation. Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, 80 pp.

    Petersen, K.W. (1979) Development of coloniality in Hydrozoa. In: Larson, G. & Rosen, B.R. (Eds.), Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms. Academic Press, London, pp. 105–139 .

    Rathbun, R. (1879) Brazilian corals and coral reefs. American Naturalist, 13, 539–551.

    Solé-Cava, A.M. & Thorpe, J.P. (1991) High levels of genetic variation in natural populations of marine lower invertebrates. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 44, 65–80.

    Stearn, C.W. & Riding, R. (1973) Forms of the hydrozoan Millepora on a recent coral reef. Lethaia, 6, 187–200.

    Stoddart, J.A. (1983) Asexual reproduction of planulae in the coral Pocillopora damicornis. Marine Biology, 76, 279–284.

    Stromgren, T. (1976) Skeleton growth of the hydrocoral Millepora complanata Lamarck in relation to light. Limnology and Oceanography, 21, 156–160.

    Thorpe, J.P., Ryland, J.S., Cornelius, P.F.S. & Beardmore, J.A. (1992) Evidence for extensive genetic divergence between branched and unbranched forms of the marine thecate hydroid Aglaophenia pluma. Journal of Marine Biology, 72, 887–894.

    Verrill, A.E. (1868) Notice of the corals and echinoderms collected by Prof. C. F. Hartt, at the Abrolhos reefs, Province of Bahia, Brazil, 1867. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Science New Haven, 1, 351–364.

    Weil, E. (1992) Genetic and morphological variation in Caribbean and eastern Pacific Porites (Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Preliminary results. Proceedings of the 6th International Coral Reef Symposium, 2, 643–655.

    Weil, E. & Knowlton, N. (1994) A multi-character analysis of the Caribbean coral Montastraea annularis (Ellis and Solander, 1786) and its two sibling species, M. faveolata (Ellis and Solander, 1786) and M. franksi (Gregory, 1895). Bulletin of Marine Science, 55, 151–175.