Symbiotic Relationships in Octocorals: The Role of Gorgonians The Role of Gorgonians
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ene 31, 2025
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https://doi.org/10.30878/ces.v32n0a27
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Linda Flor Cuecuecha-Pérez
http://orcid.org/0009-0009-0323-3997
Ariadna Esmeralda Ávila-García
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1665-6795
http://orcid.org/0009-0009-0323-3997
Ariadna Esmeralda Ávila-García
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1665-6795
Resumen
Octocorals are structurally complex organisms with significant ecological importance. Their morphology allows them to create multiple habitats, promoting their association with other marine species and thereby increasing ecosystem biodiversity. These interactions can be classified as symbiotic relationships or associations with fauna. Symbiotic relationships, being more specialized, can be categorized based on their impact on the host and the duration of the symbiosis, differentiating among three main types: mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. This article aims to highlight the role of octocorals in interspecific relationships within an ecosystem, as well as to emphasize their diversity and importance. Currently, organisms from seven phyla have been recorded inhabiting octocorals; therefore, studies that classify these interactions or utilize non-invasive methodologies for their study are lacking.
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CUECUECHA-PÉREZ, Linda Flor; ÁVILA-GARCÍA, Ariadna Esmeralda.
Symbiotic Relationships in Octocorals: The Role of Gorgonians.
CIENCIA ergo-sum, [S.l.], v. 32, ene. 2025.
ISSN 2395-8782.
Disponible en: <https://cienciaergosum.uaemex.mx/article/view/21278>. Fecha de acceso: 25 jun. 2025
doi: https://doi.org/10.30878/ces.v32n0a27.
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Esta obra está bajo licencia internacional Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObrasDerivadas 4.0.
Citas
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Ben-David, J., & Kritzer, J. P. (2005). Early life history and settlement of the slender filefish, Monacanthus tuckeri (Monacanthidae), at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 73, 275-282.
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Calcinai, B., Bavestrello, G., Bertolino, M., Pica, D., Wagner, D., & Cerrano, C. (2013). Sponges associated with octocorals in the Indo-Pacific, with the description of four new species. Zootaxa, 3617(1), 01-61.
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Gaikwad, S., De, K., Nanajkar, M., & Sautya, S. (2021). Octocoral colonies as spawning ground for the cuttlefish Sepiella inermis (Cephalopoda: Sepiidae). Symbiosis, 85, 115-121.
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Huete-Stauffer, C., Vielmini, I., Palma, M., Navone, A., Panzalis, P., Vezzulli, L., Misic, C., & Cerrano, C. (2011). Paramuricea clavata (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) loss in the Marine Protected Area of Tavolara (Sardinia, Italy) due to a mass mortality event. Marine Ecology, 32, 107-116.
Jahajeeah, D., Bhoyroo, V., & Ranghoo-Sanmukhiya, M. (2020). A review of soft corals (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) and their symbionts: Distribution of clades and functionality. Western Indian Ocean. Journal of Marine Science, 19(1) 123-141.
Korzhavina, O. A., Reimer, J. D., Ehrlich, H., & Ivanenko, V. N. (2021). Global diversity and distribution of Lamippidae copepods symbiotic on Octocorallia. Symbiosis, 83(2021), 265-277.
Lau, Y. W., Poliseno, A., Kushida, Y., Queré, G., & Reimer, J. D. (2020). The classification, diversity and ecology of shallow water octocorals. Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes, 4, 597-611.
Lee, O., Yang, J., Bougouffa, S., Wang, Y., Batang, Z., Tian, R., Al-Suwailem, A., & Qian, P. (2012). Spatial and species variations in bacterial communities associated with corals from the Red Sea as revealed by Pyrosequencing. Microbial Ecology, 78(20).
Maggioni, D., Montano, S., Voigt, O., Seveso, D., & Galli, P. (2020a). A mesophotic hotel: the octocoral Bebryce cf. grandicalyx as a host. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 101(2), e01667.
Maggioni, D., Montano, S., Voigt, O., Seveso, D., & Galli, P. (2020b). A mesophotic hotel: the octocoral Bebryce cf. grandicalyx as a host. Ecology, 1-4.
McFadden, C. S., van Ofwegen, L. & Quattrini, A. M. (2022). Revisionary systematics of Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) guided by phylogenomics. Bulletin of Society of Systematics Biologists, 1(3), 1-79.
Metaxas, A., & Davis, J. (2005). Megafauna associated with assemblages of deep-water gorgonian corals in Northeast Channel, off Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Marine Biology Association of the United Kingdom, 85, 1381-1390.
Parmentier, E., & Michel, L. (2013). Boundary lines in symbiosis forms. Symbiosis, 60, 1-5.
Pérez, C. D., Neves, B. M., Cordeiro, R. T., Williams, G. C., & Cairns, S. (2016). Diversity and distribution of Octocorallia. In S. Doffredo y Z. Dubinsky (Eds.), The Cnidaria past, present and future (pp. 109-123). Springer International Publishing.
Quintanilla, E., Ramírez-Portilla, C., Adu-Oppong, B., Walljasper, G., Glaeser, S., Wilke, T., Reyes, A., & Sánchez, J. (2018). Local confinement of disease-related microbiome facilitates recovery of gorgonian sea fans from necrotic-patch disease. Scientific Reports, 8(14636).
Reijnen, B. T., Hoeksema, B. W., & Gittenberger, E. (2010). Host specificity and phylogenetic relationships among Atlantic Ovulidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Contributions to Zoology, 79(2), 69-78.
Reijnen, B. T. (2016). Phylogenetic ecology of octocoral - gastropod associations. Universiteit Leiden.
Reijnen, B. T., & Van der Meij, Sancia E. T. (2018). Systematics of the subfamily Aclyvolvinae (Caenogastropoda: Ovulidae) based on molecular and morphometric analyses. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 1-12.
Ríos, B. (2019). Establecimiento de relaciones simbióticas en poliquetos del Mar Caribe. Biology Institute of Oceanography, 58(1), 09-28.
Sánchez, J. A., Fuentes-Pardo, A., Almhain, I. N., Ardila-Espitia, N. E., Cantera-Kintz, J., & Forero-Shelton, M. (2016). The Masquerade Game: marine mimicry adaptation between egg-cowries and octocorals. PeerJ, 4, e2051. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2051
Sammarco, P. W., & Coll, J. C. (1992). Chemical adaptations in the Octocorallia: evolutionary considerations. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 88, 93-104.
Schiaparelli, S., Barucca, M., Olmo, E., Boyer, M., & Canapa, A. (2005). Phylogenetic relationships within Ovulidae (Gastropoda: Cypraeoidea) based on molecular data from the 16S rRNA gene. Marine Biology, 147, 411-420.
Thiel, M., & Baeza, J. A. (2001). Factors affecting the social behaviour of crustaceans living symbiotically with other marine invertebrates: A modelling approach. Symbiosis, 30, 163-190.
Van de Water, J., Allemand, D., & Ferrier-Pagès, C. (2018). Host-microbe interactions in octocoral holobionts - recent advances and perspectives. Microbiome, 6(64).
Wirtz, P. & d’Udekem-d’Acoz, C. (2001). Decapoda from Antipatharia, Gorgonaria and Bivalvia at the Cape Verde Islands. Helgoland Marine Research, 55, 112-115.
Zann, L. P. (1987). A review of macrosymbiosis in the coral reef ecosystem. International Journal of Parasitology, 17, 399-405.
Arcos, R. (2013). Estructura poblacional del cangrejo Quadrella nitida (Brachyura: Trapeziidae) comensal del abanico de mar Muricea fruticosa (Octocorallia: Plexauridae) en el Golfo de California [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur.
Baeza, J. A. (2007). The origins of symbiosis as a lifestyle in marine crabs (genus Petrolisthes) from eastern Pacific: Does interspecific competition play a role? Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía, 42(1), 07-21.
Ben-David, J., & Kritzer, J. P. (2005). Early life history and settlement of the slender filefish, Monacanthus tuckeri (Monacanthidae), at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 73, 275-282.
Buhl-Mortensen, L., & Mortensen, P. B. (2003). Crustaceans associated with the deep-water gorgonian corals Paragorgia arborea (L., 1758) and Primnoa resedaeformis. Journal of Natural History, 1-15.
Buhl-Mortensen, L., & Mortensen, P. B. (2004). Symbiosis in deep-water corals. Symbiosis, 37(2004), 33-61.
Calcinai, B., Bavestrello, G., & Cerrano, C. (2004). Dispersal and association of two alien species in the Indonesian coral reefs: the octocoral Carijoa riisei and the demosponge Desmapsamma anchorata. Journal of Marine Biology, 84, 937-941.
Calcinai, B., Bavestrello, G., Bertolino, M., Pica, D., Wagner, D., & Cerrano, C. (2013). Sponges associated with octocorals in the Indo-Pacific, with the description of four new species. Zootaxa, 3617(1), 01-61.
Castro, P. (1988). Animal Symbiosis in Coral Reef Communities: a Review. Symbiosis, 5, 161-184.
Cerrano, C., Calcinari, B., Pinca, S., & Bavestrello, G. (2006). Reef sponges as hosts of biodiversity: cases from North Sulawesi. In Y. Suzuki, T. Nakomori, M. Hidaka, H. Kayanne, B. Casareto, K. Nadao, H. Yamano and M. Tsuchiya (Eds.), Xth International Coral Reef Symposium Proceedings (pp. 208-213). Okinawa.
Clippele, L. H., Buhl-Mortensen, P., & Buhl-Mortensen, L. (2015). Fauna associated with cold water gorgonians and sea pens. Continental Shelf Researchs, 105(2015), 67-78.
Clayton, D., Bush, S., & Johnson, K. (2016). Coevolution of Life on Hosts: Integrating ecology and history. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Farag, M., Meyer, A., Ali, S., Salem, M., Giavalisco, P., Westphal, H., & Wessjohann, L. (2018). Comparative metabolomics approach detects stress-specific responses during coral bleaching in soft corals. Journal of Proteome Research, 17(6), 2060-2071.
Gaikwad, S., De, K., Nanajkar, M., & Sautya, S. (2021). Octocoral colonies as spawning ground for the cuttlefish Sepiella inermis (Cephalopoda: Sepiidae). Symbiosis, 85, 115-121.
Galván-Villa, C., Tovar-Hernández, M., Rodríguez-Zaragoza, F., Esqueda-González, M., Sánchez-Rodríguez, J., & Ríos-
Jara, E. (2023). Effect of the alien octocoral Carijoa riisei on benthic fauna assemblages on natural and artificial substrates. Marine Ecology, 44(4), e12756.
Goh, N. K. C., & Chou, L. M. (1994). Associates of Singapour Gorgonians: Crustacea, Mollusca, Echinodermata and Chordata. Proceedings, third ASEAN Australia Symposium on Living Coastal Resources, 2, 1-4.
Haydon, T., Sugget, D., Siboni, N., Kahlke, T., Camp, E., & Seymour, J. (2022). Temporal variation in the microbiome of tropical and temperate Octocorals. Microbial Ecology, 83, 1073-1087.
Huete-Stauffer, C., Vielmini, I., Palma, M., Navone, A., Panzalis, P., Vezzulli, L., Misic, C., & Cerrano, C. (2011). Paramuricea clavata (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) loss in the Marine Protected Area of Tavolara (Sardinia, Italy) due to a mass mortality event. Marine Ecology, 32, 107-116.
Jahajeeah, D., Bhoyroo, V., & Ranghoo-Sanmukhiya, M. (2020). A review of soft corals (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) and their symbionts: Distribution of clades and functionality. Western Indian Ocean. Journal of Marine Science, 19(1) 123-141.
Korzhavina, O. A., Reimer, J. D., Ehrlich, H., & Ivanenko, V. N. (2021). Global diversity and distribution of Lamippidae copepods symbiotic on Octocorallia. Symbiosis, 83(2021), 265-277.
Lau, Y. W., Poliseno, A., Kushida, Y., Queré, G., & Reimer, J. D. (2020). The classification, diversity and ecology of shallow water octocorals. Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes, 4, 597-611.
Lee, O., Yang, J., Bougouffa, S., Wang, Y., Batang, Z., Tian, R., Al-Suwailem, A., & Qian, P. (2012). Spatial and species variations in bacterial communities associated with corals from the Red Sea as revealed by Pyrosequencing. Microbial Ecology, 78(20).
Maggioni, D., Montano, S., Voigt, O., Seveso, D., & Galli, P. (2020a). A mesophotic hotel: the octocoral Bebryce cf. grandicalyx as a host. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 101(2), e01667.
Maggioni, D., Montano, S., Voigt, O., Seveso, D., & Galli, P. (2020b). A mesophotic hotel: the octocoral Bebryce cf. grandicalyx as a host. Ecology, 1-4.
McFadden, C. S., van Ofwegen, L. & Quattrini, A. M. (2022). Revisionary systematics of Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) guided by phylogenomics. Bulletin of Society of Systematics Biologists, 1(3), 1-79.
Metaxas, A., & Davis, J. (2005). Megafauna associated with assemblages of deep-water gorgonian corals in Northeast Channel, off Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Marine Biology Association of the United Kingdom, 85, 1381-1390.
Parmentier, E., & Michel, L. (2013). Boundary lines in symbiosis forms. Symbiosis, 60, 1-5.
Pérez, C. D., Neves, B. M., Cordeiro, R. T., Williams, G. C., & Cairns, S. (2016). Diversity and distribution of Octocorallia. In S. Doffredo y Z. Dubinsky (Eds.), The Cnidaria past, present and future (pp. 109-123). Springer International Publishing.
Quintanilla, E., Ramírez-Portilla, C., Adu-Oppong, B., Walljasper, G., Glaeser, S., Wilke, T., Reyes, A., & Sánchez, J. (2018). Local confinement of disease-related microbiome facilitates recovery of gorgonian sea fans from necrotic-patch disease. Scientific Reports, 8(14636).
Reijnen, B. T., Hoeksema, B. W., & Gittenberger, E. (2010). Host specificity and phylogenetic relationships among Atlantic Ovulidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Contributions to Zoology, 79(2), 69-78.
Reijnen, B. T. (2016). Phylogenetic ecology of octocoral - gastropod associations. Universiteit Leiden.
Reijnen, B. T., & Van der Meij, Sancia E. T. (2018). Systematics of the subfamily Aclyvolvinae (Caenogastropoda: Ovulidae) based on molecular and morphometric analyses. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 1-12.
Ríos, B. (2019). Establecimiento de relaciones simbióticas en poliquetos del Mar Caribe. Biology Institute of Oceanography, 58(1), 09-28.
Sánchez, J. A., Fuentes-Pardo, A., Almhain, I. N., Ardila-Espitia, N. E., Cantera-Kintz, J., & Forero-Shelton, M. (2016). The Masquerade Game: marine mimicry adaptation between egg-cowries and octocorals. PeerJ, 4, e2051. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2051
Sammarco, P. W., & Coll, J. C. (1992). Chemical adaptations in the Octocorallia: evolutionary considerations. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 88, 93-104.
Schiaparelli, S., Barucca, M., Olmo, E., Boyer, M., & Canapa, A. (2005). Phylogenetic relationships within Ovulidae (Gastropoda: Cypraeoidea) based on molecular data from the 16S rRNA gene. Marine Biology, 147, 411-420.
Thiel, M., & Baeza, J. A. (2001). Factors affecting the social behaviour of crustaceans living symbiotically with other marine invertebrates: A modelling approach. Symbiosis, 30, 163-190.
Van de Water, J., Allemand, D., & Ferrier-Pagès, C. (2018). Host-microbe interactions in octocoral holobionts - recent advances and perspectives. Microbiome, 6(64).
Wirtz, P. & d’Udekem-d’Acoz, C. (2001). Decapoda from Antipatharia, Gorgonaria and Bivalvia at the Cape Verde Islands. Helgoland Marine Research, 55, 112-115.
Zann, L. P. (1987). A review of macrosymbiosis in the coral reef ecosystem. International Journal of Parasitology, 17, 399-405.