The Flexibility of Coral-algal Symbiosis - Briareum asbestinum

A study by PhD candidate, Shelby Boyer. Here's a summary of what Shelby is doing - In my study I am looking at the octocoral Briareum asbestinum and it’s endosymbiotic algae, Symbiodinium. I want to know if the light environment will influence the type of symbiont that Briareum larvae acquire. So, we collected Briareum larvae right off of the parental colony and raised them in the lab in filtered sea water. When they metamorphosed into the polyp form, I treated them with different symbiont types: A, B and D. I also used mixed infections, AB, AD and BD to see if one type of algae excludes another or if the coral selects one type over another. I want to know if a low or high light environment will change the outcome of this selection. This type of information will be important for researchers and managers to understand in order to face the challenges of warming oceans and coral bleaching.

Newly settled B. asbestinum polyps on dead gorgonian axis (their preferred settlement substrate)

Close up of a newly settled B. asbestinum polyps on dead gorgonian axis (their preferred settlement substrate)
Close up of the experimental set-up showing the "light" and "shade" environments.


Experimental set-up with light and shade treatments