[Coral-List] Coral Pigments

[Pepe, Philip]

Hi Folks,
I'm currently searching the literature for field studies that correlate pigment concentrations in hard corals with water depth.

Here is my take on this topic:


"Few studies have documented changes in pigment concentrations with depth. Takabayashi and Hoegh-Guldberg (1995) documented the distribution of two color morphs of Pollicipora damicornis at One Tree Island Lagoon, southern Great Barrier Reef. A brown color morph was found predominately at depths <1m and a pink morph predominately at depths >3m. Mazel et al. (2003) found that concentrations of green-fluorescent proteins (GFP’s) in Montastraea faveolata and Montastrea cavernosa in the Caribbean did not change with water depth. Hung-Teh Kao et al (2007) found an inverse correlation of certain fluorescent proteins with depth in Montastrea cavernosa on the Belizean barrier reef.

Can anyone tip me off to studies I'm missing?


Regards,

Phil Pepe