Dataset: Poland_2013: Polyp count with multiple symbiont types

For details, see Poland et al 2013. Briareum asbestinum larvae, collected directly from the surface of the maternal colonies at the Florida Bay, reared for three days in filtered seawater and then divided into 3 replicate groups and transferred to 1 of the 3 study sites (Florida Bay, Grassbed or Outer Reef tract) where they were placed in 2 l jugs (500−2000 larvae jug−1) and allowed to settle on dead gorgonian branches (the preferred settlement site). After 3 to 7 d, the branches with newly settled juveniles were removed from the jugs and suspended off the substrate at each site. Deployment techniques varied along the Outer Reef tract site. In 1999, Briareum asbestinum juveniles were settled onto plexi-glass plates and were floated 0.5 m above the substrate on a shallow (5 m) part of the Tennessee reef tract, while in 2000 to 2002 juveniles were settled on branches and maintained within the jugs to avoid fish predation. In 2000 and 2001 these jugs were suspended at 5 m below the surface above the deeper (23 m) part of the reef tract and in 2002, the jugs containing juveniles were floated 0.5 to 1.0 m above the substrate at 23 m depth at this same site. Data from the outer reef tract provided a comparison of symbiont types infecting juvenile hosts in the same area over depth and time.

Symbiont identification/typing followed that of Santos et al. 2003, Mar.Biotech. 5:130-140