Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org
| 26 December 2021 | 13(14): 20266–20271
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6851.13.14.20266-20271
#6851 | Received 02 November 2020 | Final
received 13 August 2021 | Finally accepted 17 December 2021
New distribution record of a true
coral species, Psammocora contigua (Esper, 1794) from Gulf of Kachchh Marine
National Park & Sanctuary, India
R. Chandran 1, R.
Senthil Kumaran 2, D.T. Vasavada 3,
N.N. Joshi 4 & Osman G. Husen 5
1–4 Marine National Park &
Sanctuary, Forest Colony, Jamnagar, Gujarat 361001, India.
5 Sikka-Range Forest office,
MNP&S, Gakat Naka, Sikka, Gujarat 361141, India.
1 chandranrethnaraj@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 senthil.ifs@gmail.com, 3 dtvasavada@yahoo.com,
4 rfojoshi@yahoo.com,
5 husengadh4796@gmail.com
Editor: M. Nithyanandan, Kuwait Institute
for Scientific Research, Salmiya, Kuwait. Date
of publication: 26 December 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Chandran, R., R.S. Kumaran, D.T. Vasavadu,
N.N. Joshi & O.G. Husen (2021). New distribution
record of a true coral species, Psammocora contigua (Esper, 1794) from Gulf of Kachchh Marine
National Park & Sanctuary, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(14): 20266–20271. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6851.13.14.
20266-20271
Copyright: © Chandran et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any
medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of
publication.
Funding: Marine National Park & Sanctuary, Jamnagar.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the Gujarat Forest
Department and Gujarat Marine National Park Conservation Society for the
facilities extended to carry out this research. The authors are also thankful
to Shri. Pratik Joshi, Range Forest Officer-Marine National Park-Jamnagar for
supporting in the manuscript preparation.
Abstract: Reef-building corals are
generally confined to tropical waters across the world oceans. But some coral
species are able to tolerate even inhospitable environments and suboptimal
extremes, and form lower diversity reefs habitats such as the Gulf of Kachchh,
located along the northwestern coast of India. Among
the reported hard coral species so far from the Gulf of Kachchh, genus Psammocora is represented by only one
species, P. digitata. The present study
confirmed a new distribution record of Psammocora
contigua from Narara
Island. Due to the changing hydro-geographic conditions in the Kachchh region,
ramose and branching coral species have been believed to be extinct completely,
leaving no sign of live colonies. P. contigua,
recorded during the present study is the only living species with ramose growth
form recorded so far from the Kachchh waters. The present study also holds out
hope to record more new coral species records from the region.
Keywords: New coral distribution, Gulf of
Kachchh, Narara, Psammocora,
marginalized reef.
Contributing much in designing,
building, and maintaining coral reef habitats in the marine realms, scleractinian corals are often considered as ‘ecosystem
engineers’. Although these corals are widely distributed throughout the world’s
seas and deeper ocean environments, reef-building coral species are
particularly live in shallow tropical and subtropical seas only. The
distribution of corals in the world’s oceans generally is confined in two
distinct regions; the wider Caribbean (Atlantic Ocean) and the Indo-Pacific
(from eastern Africa and the Red Sea to the Central Pacific Ocean) (Veron 1995). As
updated by Hoeksema & Cairns (2019), a total of 1,625 coral species have
been reported from the seas around the world. Among them, at least 900 extant hermatypic scleractinian species
(Wallace 1999; Veron 2000) and at least 707 ahermatypic species (Cairns 1999; Tenjing
et al. 2019) are recorded. The diversity of coral species is far greater in the
Indo-Pacific than in the Atlantic region; the Atlantic amount to only 1/20th
of the number to be found in the Indo-Pacific waters (Veron
1995; Spalding et al. 2001). In most parts of the world, the species richness
of coral reefs increases towards the equator, particularly the ‘Coral Triangle’
region, the ‘epicentre’ of the richest coral biodiversity (Veron
et al. 2015). From this epicenter, the species
richness of corals decreases towards latitudes and eastern and western realms.
It is astounding to note that not a single coral species is common to both of
the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean regions of the world (Veron et al. 2015). Reef-building corals prefer to grow
best in shallow, clear waters that are poor in nutrients, annual water
temperature ranges from 23°C to 29°C and a stable salinity range of 27–38 ppt (Achituv & Dubinsky 1990). Because of these strict
environmental restrictions, reef-building corals are generally confined to
tropical waters. But some coral species are able to tolerate inhospitable
environments, sub-optimal extremes and form lower diversity reefs habitats. To
a limited extent, corals of those environments can adapt to ambient conditions;
consequently, the upper lethal temperature for a species in the tropics will be
higher than that of the same species in the subtropics (Camp et al. 2018).
Marginalized reefs distribution in the Gulf of Kachchh, along the northwestern coast of India includes sturdy reef
assemblages that are adapted to thrive in extreme environmental conditions.
Coral reefs of the Kachchh are
scanty and less diverse when compared with other major coral reef regions of
India. The meagerness is explained due to the
transgression of the sea levels of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene period and the
upliftment of tectonic plates of the Gulf (Srivastava 1965). In addition, the
prevailing arid climate and the semi-diurnal tidal amplitude fluctuations imply
in water quality and heavy sediment depositions on coral reefs hamper their
recovery to a healthy state (Michael et al. 2009). Residual coral species
living today are quite distinctive in terms of their isolation and their high
degree of adaptation to survive in such extreme oceanographic and climatic
conditions (Dixit et al. 2010). The water in the Kachchh is murky almost throughout
the year and possibilities for exploring sub-tidal reefs is only hardly
possible. The distribution of corals in the Gulf is restricted mostly to
fore-reefs, edges of reef flats along with the low-tide marks and, inter-tidal
pools to reef flats for some extend. So, most studies on coral species
diversity and distribution in the Gulf carried out so far were from the
low-tide exposed reefs only. A total of 63 hard coral species belonging to 28
genera, under 11 families have been recorded so far from the Gulf of Kachchh
(Satyanarayana et al. 2018). Among them, the genus Psammocora
is represented by only one species, P. digitata.
Psammocora (Dana, 1846) is an Indo-Pacific
coral genus, presently comprised of 11 nominal species in the monotypic
family Psammocoridae (WoRMS
2020). Species of this genus have highly plastic branching growth forms and
exhibit considerable structural complexity in skeletal features (Benzoni et al. 2007). This report confirms the first
occurrence of another species of Psammocora
in the Gulf of Kachchh reefs.
Materials and Methods
Gulf of Kachchh is an East-West
oriented, funnel shaped indentation along the Gujarat coast, approximately 125
km long and 75 km wide. The southern shore of the Gulf is fringed by some 42
islands and islets. Seaward side edges and low-tide marks and of these islands
are predominantly inhabited by a rich coverage of coral reef. During a regular
coral reef health monitoring survey in the Islands of Gulf of Kachchh Marine
National Park area, the occurrence of Psammocora
contigua was recorded on August 2020, a zero
low-tide day from an intertidal reef flat of Narara
Island (22.455°N 69.671°E) (Figure 1). A recently bleached colony was collected
for taxonomic identification. The collected specimen was treated with 10%
sodium hypochlorite solution to remove all soft parts, after that washed in
freshwater and dried for recording corallites
morphology and morphometry. The largest corallites
from different parts of branch surface and valleys, which were not visibly
undergoing any budding process, were selected for morphometrical analysis.
Likewise, average branch variables were measured from different branches of the
coral colony with a vernier caliper.
The specimen was identified up to species level following published original
and synonymized taxonomic descriptions of Stefani et al. (2008) and
Venkataraman & Satyanarayana (2012). After taxonomical analysis, the same
specimen was deposited as a voucher specimen (MNP/Coel/2020-01)
at the Marine Biodiversity Museum, Marine National Park (Gujarat Forests),
Jamnagar, India.
Results
Diagnosis
Colony is sub-massive or ramous
(Image 1a, 2a) but some younger colonies observed with encrusting growth forms
(Image 1c). Live colony was pale brown in colour. Total diameter of the
examined colony was 12.82 cm and height measured 6.24 cm. Branches short,
stout, tend to be flattened and often anastomosed. Branch tip acute with
irregular foliose ends and also form pits at many places (Image 1c). At the
base of the colony, branches form valleys. Maximum height of the branch
measured up to 2.89 cm and the maximum height of the distal part of the branch
measured 1.22 cm. Maximum distance between distal portions of the branches
measured up to 2.3 cm. The surface of the colony is smooth.
Corallites are very small, shallow, without
any prominent walls and, give a smooth surface appearance to the colony (Image
2b,c). An average number of 26 corallites per cm2
was measured. The arrangement of septa in each corallite
gives a flower-like appearance. Corallite walls are
indistinct. Calice diameter measured up to 0.789 mm
and fossa diameter up to 0.184 mm. Columella was made of a group of pinnules
(Image 2d) and measured maximum up to 0.131 mm in diameter. Septal margins with
spiny process tend to arrange in whorls along their length. In most of the corallites, eight septa reach the fossa and four of them
are petaloid. Maximum length of the petaloid septa reaching the fossa up to
0.302 mm and width up to 0.118 mm. Non-petaloid septa reaching the fossa
measured up to 0.105 mm wide. Likewise, enclosed petaloid septa measured up to
0.235 mm wide and 0.392 mm long.
Series of calices often form and
can be up to more than 25 calices long even in diameter and following the
branch growth direction. Distance between two calices within the same row
ranges 0.9–1.2 mm.; the nearest calices of two parallel rows were 2-2.7mm apart
from each other. Up to eight rows of enclosed petaloid septa were found between
series of corallites. In most of the corallite, one triplet septa (three septa fusing together)
and two duplets (two septa fusing together) reaching fossa were observed. Synapticulothecal wall surrounds calices and rows of
enclosed septa were seen in many places of the colony surface. Recorded
taxonomic characters of the specimen (Table 1) agreed with the description of Psammocora contigua (Esper,
1794).
Discussion
Psammocora Dana, 1846, is an Indo-Pacific
coral genus, presently comprised of 11 nominal species in the monotypic
family Psammocoridae (WoRMS
2020). Geographical distribution of the genus extending to ‘high latitudes’ in
both south and north hemispheres, and from the Red Sea and eastern Africa to
eastern Pacific shores (Stefani et al. 2008). The Gulf of Kachchh is also located
in a marginalized region and proximate to the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, as
their distribution range. Species of this genus have highly plastic branching
growth forms and exhibit considerable structural complexity in skeletal
features (Benzoni et al. 2007).
All the taxonomical characters of
the examined coral colony, in fact, are agreed with the species P. obtusangula. The species P. obtusangula
was considered a valid species by Glynn & Wellington (1983), Veron (2000), and Reyes-Bonilla (2002). Some studies also
claimed it a close synonym of P. contigua (Veron & Pichon 1976; Faure 1982; Scheer & Pillai
1983) mentioning phenotypic plasticity as the main factor for their
morphological variability. But, Stefani et al. (2008) demonstrated the
overlapping morphological and molecular characters of P. obtusangula
and P. contigua and synonymized the earlier
with later. Hence the Kachchh specimen examined is identified as the species P.
contigua. Variation in branching morphology is
the main character for considering them as two different species. Branches of P.
obtusangula are small flattened whereas, in P.
contigua, the branches are flat and larger. But
the variation in branching may be due to the habitats they inhabit. A coral transplantation experiment also suggested
that P. obtusangula is likely to be a shallow,
agitated water form of P. contigua only
(Hoffmeister 1925). Corals of the Gulf of Kachchh are always a puzzle to
taxonomists, as the morphology and growth forms vary due to the existing
sedimentation, tidal amplitude, and water current. The same might be the reason
for variation in the growth form of the present specimen.
Among the recorded coral species
so far from the Kachchh waters, Pocillopora
damicornis, Acropora humilis, A. squarrosa,
A. microphthalma are the species having ramose or
branching growth forms (Satyanarayana & Ramakrishna 2009). But all these
species are presently considered locally extinct with not even a single live
colony recorded since the recent past. So, P. contigua
is the only living species with somewhat ramose growth form recorded so far
from the Kachchh waters.
A total of eight species of
corals belonging to the genus Psammocora have
been recorded so far from India (Table 2). A maximum of seven species were
recorded from Andaman & Nicobar followed by Lakshadweep Islands (five
species). P. contigua has been previously
reported from the Gulf of Mannar (Pillai 1986),
Lakshadweep (Pillai 1967), and Andaman & Nicobar Island (Venkataraman et
al. 2012). But P. obtusangula was only listed
out in a checklist of coral species from Andaman & Nicobar Islands by Raghuraman et al. (2012). Among the recorded 64 coral
species so far from Gulf of Kachchh, the genus Psammocora
is represented by only one species, P. digitata
(Pillai & Patel 1988; Satyanarayana & Ramakrishna 2009). The present
study adds one more species of corals to the Gulf of Kachchh corals
biodiversity. This species distribution was recorded previously from Australia,
Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Viet Nam, Thailand,
Philippines, Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Mayotte, Maldives, Japan, New
Caledonia, Réunion, Iran, Guam, Yemen, Bahrain, Vanuatu, French Polynesia,
Kenya, Ecuador, Kuwait, Seychelles, Fiji, Christmas Island, American Samoa, Pitcairns, Kiribati, USA, and Madagascar (Veron et al. 2016). Veron et al.
(2016) also strongly predicted the distribution of P. contigua
all along the western coast of India, including the Gulf of Kachchh. The
present study confirmed their prediction by recording the species in the Gulf
of Kachchh.
This species is also classified
under ‘IUCN Near Threatened’ category (IUCN 2020). In the Gulf of Kachchh, the
species distribution was rarely encountered at a low-tide exposed reef edge in
the eastern side of Narara Island, and their
distribution is recorded nowhere else in the Gulf of Kachchh reefs. Even at the
recorded reef site also, a small patch of around 8–10 colonies was only
observed. A detailed study needs to be carried out along the Kachchh reefs to
record their actual distribution. Attempts with the aid of the latest
technologies to explore the sub-tidal reefs may yield a greater number of coral
species from the isolated reefs of the Gulf of Kachchh.
Table 1. Recorded morphometrical
characters of the examined specimen, P. contigua from
Gulf of Kachchh.
|
Morphological Characters of Corallites & branches |
Morphometry (in mm) |
1 |
Calice diameter |
0.750–0.789 |
2 |
Fossa diameter |
0.157–0.184 |
3 |
Columella diameter |
0.105–0.131 |
4 |
Maximum width of petaloid septa Reaching the fossa |
0.118 |
5 |
Maximum length of petaloid
septa Reaching the fossa |
0.302 |
6 |
Maximum thickness of
non-petaloid septa |
0.105 |
7 |
Maximum width of enclosed
petaloid septa |
0.235 |
8 |
Maximum length of enclosed
petaloid septa |
0.392 |
9 |
Total branch height |
Up to 28.92 |
10 |
Height of the distal portion of
the branch |
12.27 |
11 |
Minimum distance between the
distal portions of the branch |
1.14–2.51 |
12 |
Maximum width of the basal part
of the branch (m-12) |
23.0 |
13 |
Minimum width of the basal part
of the branch perpendicular to m12 |
4.97 |
14 |
Maximum width of the distal
portion of the branch (m-14) |
46.40 |
15 |
Maximum width of the distal
portion of the branch perpendicular to m14 |
19.20–25.0 |
16 |
Minimum width of the distal
portion of the branch perpendicular to m14 |
2.78 |
Table 2. List of coral species
belonging to the genus Psammocora reported so
far from Indian waters.
|
Species |
Location of report |
Reference |
1 |
Psammocora contigua |
Lakshadweep |
Pillai 1967 |
Gulf of Mannar |
Pillai 1986 |
||
Andaman & Nicobar |
Venkataraman et al. 2012 |
||
2 |
P. digitata |
Gulf of Kachchh |
Satyanarayana &
Ramakrishna,2009; Pillai & Patel 1988 |
Lakshadweep |
Pillai & Jasmine 1989 |
||
3 |
P. explanulata |
Andaman & Nicobar |
Venkataraman et al. 2012 |
4 |
P. haimiana |
Lakshadweep |
Pillai 1971 |
Andaman & Nicobar |
Venkataraman et al. 2012 |
||
5 |
P. nierstraszi |
Lakshadweep |
Suresh 1991 |
|
P. obtusangula |
Andaman & Nicobar |
Raghuraman et al.,2012 |
6 |
P. profundacella |
Lakshadweep |
Pillai & Jasmine 1989 |
Andaman & Nicobar |
Venkataraman et al. 2012 |
||
7 |
P. superficialis |
Andaman & Nicobar |
Venkataraman et al. 2012 |
8 |
P. vaughani |
Andaman & Nicobar |
Mondal et al. 2015 |
For
figure & images - - click here
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