Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Terra Dell'Ambiente E Della Vita (DISTAV), Università Di Genova, Corso Europa, 26 -16132, Genova, Italy.
NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 2;14(1):7785. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58101-y.
The golden coral Savalia savaglia is a long-living ecosystem engineer of Mediterranean circalittoral assemblages, able to induce necrosis of gorgonians' and black corals' coenenchyme and grow on their cleaned organic skeleton. Despite its rarity, in Boka Kotorska Bay (Montenegro) a shallow population of more than 1000 colonies was recorded close to underwater freshwater springs, which create very peculiar environmental conditions. In this context, the species was extremely abundant at two sites, while gorgonians were rare. The abundance and size of S. savaglia colonies and the diversity of the entire benthic assemblage were investigated by photographic sampling in a depth range of 0-35 m. Several living fragments of S. savaglia spread on the sea floor and small settled colonies (< 5 cm high) suggested a high incidence of asexual reproduction and a non-parasitic behaviour of this population. This was confirmed by studying thin sections of the basal portion of the trunk where the central core, generally represented by the remains of the gorgonian host skeleton, was lacking. The S. savaglia population of Boka Kotorska Bay forms the unique Mediterranean assemblage of the species deserving the definition of animal forest. Recently, temporary mitigation measures for anthropogenic impact were issued by the Government of Montenegro. Nevertheless, due to the importance of the sites the establishment of a permanent Marine Protected Area is strongly recommended.
金黄珊瑚 Savalia savaglia 是地中海沿岸浅水生物群集的长寿生态系统工程师，能够诱导柳珊瑚和黑珊瑚的软珊瑚组织坏死，并在其清理后的有机骨骼上生长。尽管它很稀有，但在波卡·科托尔斯卡湾（黑山），在靠近水下淡水泉的地方发现了一个由超过 1000 个群体组成的浅海种群，这些泉水创造了非常特殊的环境条件。在这种情况下，该物种在两个地点极为丰富，而柳珊瑚却很少。通过在 0-35 米深度范围内进行摄影抽样，研究了金黄珊瑚群体的丰度和大小以及整个底栖生物群集的多样性。在海底上散布着几个金黄珊瑚的活体碎片和小型定居群体（<5 厘米高），这表明该种群具有很高的无性繁殖能力和非寄生行为。这一点通过研究树干基部的薄片得到了证实，树干的中心核心通常由柳珊瑚宿主骨骼的残留物组成，但在薄片中却没有。波卡·科托尔斯卡湾的金黄珊瑚种群形成了独特的地中海生物群集，值得被定义为动物森林。最近，黑山政府发布了临时缓解人类活动影响的措施。然而，由于这些地点的重要性，强烈建议建立一个永久性的海洋保护区。
