[Coral-List] Bubbles from Millepora skeleton

[Douglas Fenner]

That's mostly O2 with some N2, probably made by algae in the skeleton.  The
skeleton has closed spaces unlike in Scleractinia, so the O2 stays there
unless it is broken.

Bellamy, N., Risk, M. 1982. Coral gas: Oxygen production in Millepora on
the Great Barrier Reef.  1982. Science 215: 1648-1619.

Large volumes of a gas consisting of 69 percent molecular oxygen and 31
percent molecular nitrogen with trace amounts of carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, and methane have been found trapped inside skeletons of the common
hydrozoan *Millepora*. Volumes were low in the morning and reached a
maximum by late afternoon. The oxygen was probably produced by the
endolithic (boring) algae, with which the *Millepora* skeletons are very
heavily infested. Oxygen production by endolithic algae in *Millepora* and
in other substrates could influence estimates of reef productivity based on
measurements of dissolved gases.

Not open access.

Cheers, Doug

On Fri, Apr 28, 2023 at 4:01 AM David Blakeway via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Today I accidentally broke a Millepora branch and a string of bubbles
> emerged. What might that gas be?
> David
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>