Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

CS11 Coral Reefs

Date: Monday, February 12, 2001, Time: 11:00:00 AM

Location: Cimarron

Torres-Pérez, J, L, Univ. of PR, Dept. Marine Sciences, Lajas, Puerto Rico, jltorres@caribe.net

Armstrong, R, A, Univ. of PR, Dept. Marine Sciences, Lajas, Puerto Rico, neptune@caribe.net

PHOTOSYNTHETIC PIGMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ENDOSYMBIONTS OF THE SHALLOW-WATER CORALS ACROPORA CERVICORNIS AND PORITES

A study was performed to determine differences in the photosynthetic pigment contents of the Caribbean shallow-water corals Acropora cervicornis and Porites porites using HPLC analysis. A total of 19 pigments were identified. Of these, only nine (chlorophylls and carotenoids) were common to both species, six carotenoids appeared only in A. cervicornis, and four carotenoids appeared only in P. porites. Both species differed in their overall chlorophylls and carotenoids contents, with A. cervicornis presenting a higher percentage of carotenoids than P. porites. Derivative analyses of the reflectance spectra of the corals revealed the possible use of different pigments in their zooxanthellae to absorb light at the same wavelengths even when living at the same physical conditions. The second derivative analysis of the 400-500nm region can be used to identify both coral species. These results sustain the hypothesis that a variety of different clades of zooxanthellae might be inhabiting different coral species in Caribbean shallow reef waters.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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