Estimations of free fatty acids (FFA) as a reliable proxy for larval performance in Mediterranean octocoral species
Viladrich, Núria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Bramanti, Lorenzo (Sorbone Universités. Observatoire Océanologique)
Tsounis, Georgios (California State University)
Coppari, Martina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Dominguez-Carrió, Carlos (Institut de Ciències del Mar)
Pruski, Audrey M. (Sorbonne University)
Rossi, Sergio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	The survival, behavior, and competence period of lecithotrophic larvae depends not only on the energy allocation transferred by maternal colonies, but also on the amount of energy consumed to sustain embryonic, larval, and post-larval development. The objective of the present work is to understand the effect of energy consumption on the performance of lecithotrophic larvae. To this aim, we analysed free fatty acid (FFA) content and composition of the larvae of three Mediterranean octocorals (Corallium rubrum, Eunicella singularis, and Paramuricea clavata) as a proxy for energy consumption. Results showed that C. rubrum larvae consume more FFA than P. clavata, whereas the energy consumed by E. singularis larvae is high but highly variable. These results are in accordance with the larval behavior of these three species, since C. rubrum larvae are characterized by their high swimming activity frequency, P. clavata larvae are almost inactive, and the swimming activity frequency of E. singularis larvae is high, although variable. The differences in FFA composition of the larvae suggest contrasting energetic strategies that could explain the differences in survival and recruitment rates. In fact, high dispersal and recruitment capacities for E. singularis larvae can be inferred from the FFA composition, whereas the high spatial and temporal variability of recruitment observed in C. rubrum may be related to the non-selective transfer of fatty acid (FA) from maternal colonies. Finally, the high recovery rates after mass mortality events observed in P. clavata could be favored by the presence of a specific FA [22:6(n-3)] related to adaptation mechanisms under environmental stresses during the first developmental stages.
Grants:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca FI2010-03824 Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia RyC-2007-01327 European Commission 327845 Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia CTM2009-10007 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014/SGR-1356
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre i quan aquestes es distribueixin sota la mateixa llicència que regula l'obra original i es reconegui l'autoria.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Energy consumption ; Fatty acids ; Gorgonians ; Octocorals ; SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Published in:	Mediterranean Marine Science, Vol. 23, Issue 1 (2022) , p. 115-124, ISSN 1791-6763

DOI: 10.12681/mms.27151

11 p, 1.8 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles