Coral mucus functions as an energy carrier and particle trap in the reef ecosystem

By C. Wild, M. Huettel, Anke Klueter, Stephan G. Kremb, M. Rasheed, B. Jørgensen. Nature, 2004

637 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Biotechnology, Ecology, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/dd1b6ef6d33e945a2d600194db0d6bf9e4272a60

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Citations in the corpus

Organic matter release by dominant hermatypic corals of the Northern Red Sea (2010, methodology): “…matter (DOM) pool of reef waters (Wild et al. 2004a), while the remaining particulate fraction is exposed to physical environmental factors (e.g., water current) ultimately leading to detachment from coral surfaces followed by the formation of suspended mucus aggregates (Wild et al. 2004a, 2005a).”
Bacterial assemblages differ between compartments within the coral holobiont (2011, methodology): “…pelagic coupling reported by Wild et al. (2004), whereby mucus strands released from the coral are filtered through lagoonal sands, would be expected to be reflected in sediment samples, with these sharing similar ribotypes to that of the corals mucus (Wild et al. 2004; Naumann et al. 2009).”
Can heterotrophic uptake of dissolved organic carbon and zooplankton mitigate carbon budget deficits in annually bleached corals? (2016, result): “4f, i), consistent with findings from most previous studies of healthy nonbleached coral DOC fluxes (Crossland 1987; Wild et al. 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010a, b; Tanaka et al. 2008, 2009; Haas et al. 2010; Naumann et al. 2010; Levas et al. 2015).”
Scleractinian corals as facilitators for other invertebrates on a Caribbean reef (2006, background): “It has long been recognized that symbiotic scleractinians provide carbon to reef communities (Benson & Muscatine 1974, Richman et al. 1975, Kayanne et al. 1995, Wild et al. 2004) and that the carbon released by corals can benefit other taxa as a food source (Coffroth 1984).”
Biogeochemical responses to mass coral spawning at the Great Barrier Reef: Effects on respiration and primary production (2008, methodology): “During the mass-spawning event at the Heron Island reef in 2001 it was estimated that a total of 310.0 kg of C and 18.0 kg of N were released into the ambient water in the form of coral eggs (Wild et al. 2004a).”
A test of the sponge-loop hypothesis for emergent Caribbean reef sponges (2018, background): “There is good evidence that primary producers on coral reefs (seaweeds and corals) release up to 50% of their fixed carbon as mucus and other exudates, and that most of these exudates become part of the DOC pool (Wild et al. 2004, Haas et al. 2010).”
Regulation of microbial populations by coral surface mucus and mucus-associated bacteria (2006, background): “Coral mucus traps particles and microbes that pass by in the water column (Wild et al. 2004).”
Effects of climate-induced coral bleaching on coral-reef fishes - ecological and economic consequences (2008, background): “…to the functioning of coral-reef ecosystems, contributing to primary production, nutrient recycling, and reef growth (hoegh-Guldberg 2004, Wild et al. 2004). scleractinian corals are also the primary habitat-forming species (foundation species; Dayton 1972) in coral-reef habitats (e.g.,…”
Organic matter release by coral reef associated benthic algae in the Northern Red Sea (2010, background): “, 2005a) and particularly, by the release of organic matter, that functions as particle trap in the reef ecosystem (Wild et al., 2004).”
Competition Among Sessile Organisms on Coral Reefs (2011, background): “Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a critical substrate for microbial growth, and is not readily available in coral mucus (Wild et al. 2004).”
The Ecology of Rafting in the Marine Environment. II. The Rafting Organisms and Community (2005, background): “Zaitsev (1970) provided a schematic view of the ecologic relationships in the surface layer of the open ocean.”
Trophic relationships in a deep Mediterranean cold-water coral bank (Santa Maria di Leuca, Ionian Sea) (2009, background): “It would be interesting to investigate the role of coral mucus as a possible candidate in this 13Cenrichment, since mucus is produced in abundance by tropical reef corals and has been shown to supply significant amounts of energy and nutrients to the sediment (Wild et al. 2004).”
The effect of flow speed and food size on the capture efficiency and feeding behaviour of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (2016, background): “These results are not surprising as release of POM is known from soft and hard corals from warm water reefs (Wild et al., 2004, 2010 and references therein).”
Form and function of tropical macroalgal reefs in the Anthropocene (2019, background): “…production from zooxanthellae is utilised by the host coral (Hatcher, 1990), with feeding by corallivores and coral exudates providing external trophic pathways for some of the coral primary production to enter the wider ecosystem (Cole, Lawton, Wilson, & Pratchett, 2012; Wild et al., 2004).”
Composition analysis of organic matter released by cosmopolitan coral reef-associated green algae (2010, background): “Previous studies showed that organic matter derived from hermatypic corals (Wild et al. 2004) and benthic algae (Hedges 2002) are key components of reef biogeochemical cycles.”