Effects of Ocean Acidification on calcification and biochemical balance of the Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum

We evaluated the effects of low pH on Corallium rubrum from aquaria experiments. Several colonies of C. rubrum were long-term maintained for 314 days in aquaria at two different pH levels (8.10 and 7.81, pHT). Calcification rate, spicule morphology, major biochemical constituents (protein, carbohydrates and lipids) and fatty acids composition were measured periodically. Exposure to lower pH conditions caused a significant decrease in the skeletal growth rate in comparison to the control treatment. Similarly, the spicule morphology clearly differed between both treatments at the end of the experiment, with aberrant shapes being observed only under the acidified conditions. On the other hand, while total organic matter was significantly higher under low pH conditions, no significant differences were detected between treatments regarding total carbohydrate, lipid, protein and fatty acid composition. However, the lower variability found among samples maintained in acidified conditions relative to controls, suggests a possible effect of pH decrease on the metabolism of the colonies. Our results show, for the first time, evidence of detrimental ocean acidification effects on this valuable and endangered coral species.

Data and Resources

This dataset has no data

Cite this as

Bramanti, Lorenzo, Movilla, Juancho, Guron, Maricel, Calvo, Eva, Gori, Andrea, Dominguez-Cariò, Carlos, Grinyó, Jordi, Lopez-Sanz, Angel, Martinez-Quintana, Angela, Pelejero, Carles, Ziveri, Patrizia, Rossi, Sergio (2013). Dataset: Effects of Ocean Acidification on calcification and biochemical balance of the Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.819362

DOI retrieved: 2013

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 30, 2024
Last update November 30, 2024
License CC-BY-3.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.819362
Author Bramanti, Lorenzo
Given Name Lorenzo
Family Name Bramanti
More Authors
Movilla, Juancho
Guron, Maricel
Calvo, Eva
Gori, Andrea
Dominguez-Cariò, Carlos
Grinyó, Jordi
Lopez-Sanz, Angel
Martinez-Quintana, Angela
Pelejero, Carles
Ziveri, Patrizia
Rossi, Sergio
Source Creation 2013
Publication Year 2013
Resource Type application/zip - filename: Bramanti-etal_2013
Subject Areas
Name: Ecology

Related Identifiers
Title: Detrimental effects of ocean acidification on the economically important Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum)
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12171
Type: DOI
Relation: IsSupplementTo
Year: 2013
Source: Global Change Biology
Authors: Bramanti Lorenzo , Movilla Juancho , Guron Maricel , Calvo Eva , Gori Andrea , Dominguez-Cariò Carlos , Grinyó Jordi , Lopez-Sanz Angel , Martinez-Quintana Angela , Pelejero Carles , Ziveri Patrizia , Rossi Sergio .

Title: Seawater carbonate chemistry, calcification and organic matter of Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) in a laboratory experiment
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.830605
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Year: 2013
Authors: Bramanti Lorenzo , Movilla Juancho , Guron Maricel , Calvo Eva , Gori Andrea , Dominguez-Cariò Carlos , Grinyó Jordi , Lopez-Sanz Angel , Martinez-Quintana Angela , Pelejero Carles , Ziveri Patrizia , Rossi Sergio .