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In the Mediterranean, the gastropod Dendropoma cristatum (sin. D. petraeum (Monterosato, 1884)) is the primary builder of
the vermetid reef, an intertidal bioconstruction of exceptional ecological importance. Despite awareness of the need for
conservation of this key species, the biology of D. cristatum remains poorly understood. The recruitment of...
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Context 1
... density of adult individuals did not differ between the two edges of the reefs (p = 0.07) with average values (± standard error, SE) amongst local- ities and time points ranging from 172.69 ± 10.18 individuals per 100 cm −2 in the outer edge to 151.43 ± 5.64 individuals per 100 cm −2 in the inner edge (Figure 2). Unlike the observed patterns of Dendropoma adults, the univariate PERMANOVA on recruit den- sity revealed significant differences in the interaction term time × habitat, whilst no differences were recorded between localities (Table I). ...
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Zusammenfassung
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Summary
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Citations
... Throughout the study period, the seawater temperature of the study area was monitored by placing a HOBO thermo-logger (HOBO Pendant® MX2201 Water Temperature) on the outer reef rim, where the artificial tiles have been deployed during the settlement experiment (Fig. 1b). Here, crawling vermetid availability is supposed to be higher compared to the inner rim, since a higher recruitment rate has been found (Franzitta et al., 2016). ...
... Hole design, compared to the crevices, may limit the entry and the mobility of predators, may retain a higher sea-water amount during the low-tide, reducing desiccation stress and solar irradiation for D. cristatum settlers, especially during the summer diurnal low tides. These stressful intertidal conditions are hypothesized as factors that limit the settlement of this vermetid species (Franzitta et al., 2016), being also responsible for the benthic colonization on intertidal substrates subjected to extended periods of emersion (Fletcher and Callow, 1992;Coombes, 2011;Firth et al., 2013). ...
Vermetid reefs are intertidal key habitats that strongly increase the biological and ecological value of the coastal ecosystems, providing ecological goods and services. In some parts of the Mediterranean Sea, this habitat is experiencing an increasing decline, due to environmental and anthropogenic pressures and the lack of officially coordinated strategies promoting its conservation at the basin scale.
Moreover, experimental data testing for vermetid reef restoration is presently scant. Here we tested the potential to achieve new vermetid colonies on engineered substrates, aiming for their further transplantation to depleted reefs for restoration purposes. We investigated in the field the settlement rate of the central-Mediterranean vermetid species Dendropoma cristatum on artificial tiles made of different concrete mixtures (geopolymer concrete, pozzolanic concrete mixed with fine sand, magnesian concrete, pozzolanic concrete mixed with magnesium and coarse sand) and one plastic material (expanded polyvinyl chloride), engineered with a range of interstice shapes and sizes (i.e., holes and crevices of 1 and 2 mm), obtaining on each tile four different topographic designs. Also, the benthic fauna colonization on these engineered tiles has been monitored.
While the material typology had a relative effect on the settlement of D. cristatum, the presence of specific topographic designs played an important role, not only for the reef-builder species but also for the benthic fauna. A significantly higher vermetid density and invertebrate taxonomic richness and individual abundance were associated with the hole presence on the tiles, confirming to be the preferred interstice type among those texted. Furthermore, geopolymer concrete was the material that showed higher resistance to the intertidal conditions and durability after the experiment.
The production of geopolymer tiles engineered with hole interstices may be a valid option for future studies aiming at the restoration of this intertidal key habitat. However, while our achievements correspond to a higher vermetid and benthic invertebrate settlement within a few weeks of field experiment, post-settlement processes need to be considered in the perspective to restore the functionality of a degraded reef.
... Larvae of many reef-forming species require hard substrata for settlement, including oysters (Michener and Kenny, 1991), mussels (Commito et al., 2014), tubeworms (Chapman et al., 2007) and sessile gastropods (Franzitta et al., 2016). This is often the accumulated shells or tubes of dead conspecifics (Chapman et al., 2007;Michener and Kenny, 1991). ...
Multi-habitat restoration should be considered for conservation of habitat-types that are ecologically-related and regularly co-occur. Multi-habitat restoration has been used to a limited extent for marine habitats including oysters, mangroves and seagrass. Recent increases in research and understanding of shellfish-reefs and boulder/cobble-reefs means they should likewise be considered for integrated restoration. Importantly, boulders have recently been used as the foundation for several large-scale oyster-reef restorations. These would benefit from improved recognition that multiple distinct habitat-types are involved each associated with distinct knowledge pools. These habitat-types mostly have similar restoration objectives, they often co-occur pre-disturbance, and they share varied taxa. These linkages mean that opportunities may be missed if restorations are only considered separately in contexts where an integrated approach is feasible; restoration of one habitat may benefit from concurrent restoration of the other and the sum of benefits from integration may outweigh the sum from restorations done separately. Here, I discuss concepts concerning five potential synergies: 1) boulders provide natural hard-substrata that initiates shellfish recruitment, 2) boulders produce beneficial hydrological heterogeneity, increasing recruitment of some shellfish species, 3) shellfish generate self-sustaining supplies of novel hard-substrata habitat used by boulder/cobble species thus expanding the original restoration site footprint, 4) large shellfish populations strengthen valuable ecological functions in boulder habitats, and 5) boulders and shells together increase overall diversity of available hard-substrata types, and thus of associated specialist species. Not only restoration outcomes, but also objectives and planning can be improved by integrating knowledge from both habitat-types to encompass these five synergies.
... As a result, there is a clear need for population genetic research on marine taxa with short or absent pelagic larval phases. One group with potential application for small geographic scale population genetics are members of the mollusk family Vermetidae, as species in this family lack or have short planktonic larval stages (Franzitta et al. 2016). Vermetidae species have thus been speculated to be appropriate taxa for studying speciation events (Safriel and Hadfield 1988) and for examining intraspecific population genetics (Franzitta et al. 2016). ...
... One group with potential application for small geographic scale population genetics are members of the mollusk family Vermetidae, as species in this family lack or have short planktonic larval stages (Franzitta et al. 2016). Vermetidae species have thus been speculated to be appropriate taxa for studying speciation events (Safriel and Hadfield 1988) and for examining intraspecific population genetics (Franzitta et al. 2016). ...
... Here, we investigated a vermetid mollusk species with extremely short or absent PLD (Franzitta et al. 2016) that is an important component of coral reef ecosystems (Shima et al. 2015), widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean, and of some (albeit small) commercial importance as a traditional food source (Poutiers 1998), the snail worm Ceraesignum maximum (G.B. Sowerby I, 1825). ...
Despite being one of the world's leading countries in coral reef conservation and management, very little data exist for coral reef-associated species in the island nation of Palau, hampering managers' ability to more effectively protect coral reef ecosystems. Here we examine populations of the vermetid Ceraesignum maximum, a common species on coral reefs, with short or absent pelagic larval stage, in order to elucidate patterns of gene flow within Palauan reefs. We collected specimens (n = 582) from 20 sites across Palau. Cytochrome oxidase subunit I analyses show private haplotypes at all sites examined, with a clear separation between outer and inner reef locations, and a unique population within isolated Nikko Bay. Oceanographic isolation between the waters of Nikko Bay, inner and outer reefs may contribute to our observed genetic differentiation. Our results indicate past demographic expansion of C. maximum across the region and also indicate that multiple sites of both inner and outer reef locations would need to be protected to conserve this species' genetic diversity, including unique Nikko Bay. These results demonstrate the utility of C. maximum as a good species to investigate gene flow across small scales (\ 10 km) as seen in Palau.
... In the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Western Mediterranean), D. cristatum larval incubation occurs in the month of May inside the maternal mantle cavity and the recruitment stage typically ranges from early June to late October (Franzitta et al., 2016;Templado et al., 2015). Twelve vermetid cores of 13 cm diameter were collected from the North Western coast of Sicily, Italy (Barcarello, 38°12′47.4"N ...
Expected temperature rise and seawater pH decrease may affect marine organism fitness. By a transplant experiment involving air-temperature manipulation along a natural CO2 gradient, we investigated the effects of high pCO2 (~1100 µatm) and elevated temperature (up to + 2oC than ambient conditions) on the reproductive success, recruitment, growth, shell chemical composition and oxygen consumption of the early life stages of the intertidal reef-building vermetid Dendropoma cristatum. Reproductive success was predominantly affected by temperature increase, with encapsulated embryos exhibiting higher survival in control than elevated temperature conditions, which were in turn unaffected by altered seawater pH levels. Decreasing pH (alone or in combination with temperature) significantly affected the shell growth and shell chemical composition of both embryos and recruits. Elevated temperatures along with lower pH led to decreases of ~30% oxygen consumption and ~60% recruitment. Our results suggest that the early life stages of the reef-builder D. cristatum are highly sensitive to expected environmental change, with major consequences on the intertidal vermetid reefs they build and indirectly on the high biodiversity levels they support.
... Once hatching occurs, the juveniles spend only a few hours crawling until recruitment takes place. Moreover, recruitment seems to be limited to warm months, being reported from March to October in D. lebeche (Calvo et al., 1998) and from June to September in D. cristatum (Franzitta et al., 2016). ...
... A supplementary potential threat is the trampling of tourists and fishermen that may affect vermetid recruits survival and settlement success as well as the associated benthic assemblages (Milazzo and Ramos-Esplá, 2000;Milazzo et al., 2004). It is also likely that the prolonged exposure to solar radiation and to higher documented air temperatures, particularly during the warmest summer months and at low tide (Franzitta et al., 2016), could have been lethal for Dendropoma recruits. The vermetid platform can also be place of choice for the deliberate or accidental settlement of introduced species, such as the lessepsian bivalve Brachidontes pharaonis that replaced Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) in Lebanese vermetid reefs (Gruvel, 1931;Bitar, 2008). ...
... A supplementary potential threat is the trampling of tourists and fishermen that may affect vermetid recruits survival and settlement success as well as the associated benthic assemblages (Milazzo and Ramos-Esplá, 2000;Milazzo et al., 2004). It is also likely that the prolonged exposure to solar radiation and to higher documented air temperatures, particularly during the warmest summer months and at low tide (Franzitta et al., 2016), could have been lethal for Dendropoma recruits. The vermetid platform can also be place of choice for the deliberate or accidental settlement of introduced species, such as the lessepsian bivalve Brachidontes pharaonis that replaced Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) in Lebanese vermetid reefs (Gruvel, 1931;Bitar, 2008). ...
... Vermetid reefs can be divided into three morphological zones along a horizontal axis, extending from the shore to the sea: (1) the inner margin, which corresponds to the terrestrial boundary; (2) the ''cuvette zone'', the central area of the reef with shallow pools named cuvettes located between the inner and the outer margins of the reef; and (3) the outer margin, the sea boundary of the reef (Molinier and Picard 1953;Chemello and Silenzi 2011). These zones differ in hydrodynamic features (such as emersion and wave exposures), creating different microhabitats with distinct populations (Chemello and Silenzi 2011;Chemello et al. 1998;Sarà et al. 2014;Franzitta et al. 2016). ...
We present the first dataset of meiofauna associated with vermetid reefs (biogenic constructions of Mediterranean intertidal habitat) in two areas along the northern coast of Sicily, Italy. The vermetid reefs are characterized by a horizontal extension from the shore towards the open sea and can be divided into three zones (the inner margin, the cuvette zone and the outer margin) which differ in hydrodynamic features. We studied the spatial distribution of meiofauna along the horizontal axis of the vermetid reefs, investigating the communities inhabiting the sediment inside cuvettes (shallow pools inside the “cuvette zone”) located between the inner and the outer margins of the reefs. We observed an increase in meiofaunal abundance from the inner to the outer part of the reef (from 1808 ± 80 to 2992 ± 512 ind. 100 cm⁻²) in both areas. Moreover, we studied meiofaunal communities associated with the most abundant macroalgae (Cystoseira sp., Jania rubens, Palisada perforata, Dictyota sp. and Padina pavonica) living on the reefs, investigating the influence of habitat size (biomass) and identity (complexity) of macroalgae. We found that meiofauna varied in abundance (from 446 ± 51 to 1758 ± 231 ind. 100 cm⁻² on P. perforata and Cystoseira sp., respectively), on different macroalgae, and that the habitat size significantly influenced these abundances, but its effect was dependent on macroalgal identity. In fact, we observed a positive correlation between meiofaunal abundance and algal complexity (fractal dimension). The high algal cover in the “cuvette zone” of the reefs could contribute to make this zone more suitable for meiofauna, in particular close to the outer margin where we found more complex macroalgae (i.e. Cystoseira sp.). These results confirm that vermetid reefs, with their structural complexity, may play an important role in structuring benthic fauna in intertidal habitats.
... La falta de un estadio planctónico del vermétido, y el corto lapso de tiempo desde la eclosión al reclutamiento del juvenil (el embrión se desarrolla en la cavidad del manto de la hembra), permiten que las zonas de asentamiento sean muy cercanas a los progenitores, e incluso encima de ellos, favoreciendo la generación de agregados (Calvo et al., 1998;Franzitta et al., 2016). Este hecho, junto a la probable sinergia con el alga calcárea, cuya presencia parece facilitar el asentamiento (Spotorno-Oliveira et al., 2015), es determinante para permitir el desarrollo de tales arrecifes (Fig.5). ...
The abrasion platforms with vermetids and red calcareous algae are characteristic of the
warm southern Mediterranean and make up a noteworthy landscape. In these platforms
we find a large amount of species, which take advantage of the specific conditions in these
particular environments. These ecosystems are very much present on the coasts of the
Iberian Southeast but they are still not well known. In this article, their structure and value
as ecological and paleoecological indicators are described. The main natural drivers in
determining their composition and dynamics, together with the anthropic ones, which can
even threaten their existence, are analysed as well. Finally, information about their current
protection status is given.
... The lack of a significant correlation between the wave fetch and the belt width of the P. varians reefs suggests that wave action does not affect the distribution of this species along the intertidal. However, Franzitta et al. (2016) found a significant relationship between the width of the Dendropoma cristatum reef and the exposure index in the Mediteranea Sea. The index used in the present study may be less sensitive at a small scale. ...
The reef-building vermetid Petaloconchus varians occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean, from the Caribbean Sea to the southern coast of Brazil. The present study evaluated the abundance of P. varians on intertidal rocky shores in Ilha Grande Bay (Rio de Janeiro State), and characterized their reefs, describing the species density, besides the weight and the belt width of the reefs. Petaloconchus varians reefs were recorded at 25 sites, with rocky shores exposed to different wave action (very sheltered, sheltered, semi-exposed and exposed) and slopes (10° to 46°). Clusters of individuals constructed large reefs along the middle intertidal zone, creating a wide belt (38 cm to 2 m). The density of P. varians and the weight of the reefs ranged from 620 to 2,559 ind.100 cm-2 and from 100 to 1,500 g.100 cm-2, respectively. Considering that the species was last reported from the area in the mid-20th century, the present study suggests that P. varians reefs are becoming dominant in the intertidal zone of rocky shores in Ilha Grande Bay. This is a contribution to knowledge of this ecosystem in Ilha Grande Bay, in view of local or global ecological changes.
