Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Counts of vermetid gastropod Ceraesignum maximum at reefs before, during and after the die off.

Related Datasets:

• Brown_et_al_2016_SimpleCounts: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/721511 (The current page.)
• Brown_et_al_2016_SizeComparison: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/721581
• Brown_et_al_2016_QuadratSurvey: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/721232

We had previously counted Ceraesignum maximum on 11 marked patch reefs on 2 July 2015. These patch reefs were 65.8 ± 4.7 cm in height, 77.9 ± 4.6 cm in diameter (mean ± SE), and originally occupied by, on average, 34 living C. maximum. We did not observe any dead C. maximum at this time. Once we suspected a die-off had started, we recounted C. maximum three additional times (16 July, 24–25 July and 4 October 2015).

BCO-DMO Processing:

• added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
• modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions
• converted date from Mon-dd to yyyymmdd.

Description from NSF abstract:
Ecological surprises are most likely to be manifest in diverse communities where many interactions remain uninvestigated. Coral reefs harbor much of the world's biodiversity, and recent studies by the investigators suggest that one overlooked, but potentially important, biological interaction involves vermetid gastropods. Vermetid gastropods are nonmobile, tube-building snails that feed via an extensive mucus net. Vermetids reduce coral growth by up to 80%, and coral survival by as much as 60%. Because effects vary among coral taxa, vermetids may substantially alter the structure of coral communities as well as the community of fishes and invertebrates that inhabit the coral reef.

The investigators will conduct a suite of experimental and observational studies that: 1) quantify the effects of four species of vermetids across coral species to assess if species effects and responses are concordant or idiosyncratic; 2) use meta-analysis to compare effects of vermetids relative to other coral stressors and determine the factors that influence variation in coral responses; 3) determine the role of coral commensals that inhabit the branching coral, Pocillopora, and evaluate how the development of the commensal assemblage modifies the deleterious effects of vermetids; 4) determine how vermetid mucus nets affect the local environment of corals and evaluate several hypotheses about proposed mechanisms; and 5) assess the long-term implications of vermetids on coral communities and the fishes and invertebrates that depend on the coral.

Note: The Principal Investigator, Dr. Craig W. Osenberg, was at the University of Florida at the time the NSF award was granted. Dr. Osenberg moved to the University of Georgia during the summer of 2014 (current contact information).