Symbiodinium Thermophilum: Hot Reef Savior?

Hot reefs and even hotter megafauna

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the New York University Abu Dhabi identified the symbiotic algae in corals from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the world's warmest coral reef habitat. 

"We found that commonly applied molecular methods did not give enough resolution to distinguish the dominant symbionts of Gulf corals from those in other parts of the world's oceans," explains Professor Jörg Wiedenmann, Professor of Biological Oceanography and Head of the Coral Reef Laboratory at the University of Southampton. "However, when analyzed by alternative molecular biological approaches, we found pronounced differences that set this heat tolerant species clearly aside. We named it Symbiodinium thermophilum in reference to its ability to survive unusually high temperatures."

"Understanding how corals survive under the extreme temperatures in the Gulf will give us important insights into the ability of reef corals to handle the heat stress, which is threatening their survival in the oceans that are warming up in response to climate change," explains Wiedenmann. "We monitored the symbiotic partnership over several seasons to ensure that this association was stable through a range of thermal conditions," comments Professor John Burt from the New York University Abu Dhabi. "We can confirm that this new type of alga is the year-round prevalent symbiont across several dominant coral species from the Abu Dhabi coast of the United Arab Emirates.

"It gives hope to find that corals have more ways to adjust to stressful environmental conditions than we had previously thought," adds Professor Wiedenmann. "However, it is not only heat that troubles coral reefs. Pollution and nutrient enrichment, overfishing and coastal development also represent severe threats to their survival. Only if we manage to reduce these different forms of stress will corals be able to benefit from their capacity to adjust to climate change." 

Article here.