I am currently working on a paper and I need to know if coral skeleton density actually does increase with depth for all coral species, if this is species-specific, or if this issue is still unknown. I am specifically talking about coral species that are found both in shallower water and at mesophotic depths. However, I would also like to know if depth specialist corals only found in deeper water have higher skeleton densities than shallower coral of different species. At the moment, I am only aware of 2 Caribbean studies (Baker and Weber 1975; Hughes 1987) that test this issue. Please let me know if you are aware of others or have any other insight. Thank you.
Hi David,
Coral skeletal density may increase with depth for some but not all corals. Look at the literature there is a lot of material out there. Have a look at the attached papers to start you off.
Tomas
Thanks Tomas. I am aware of most of these (especially the one I wrote) but I was still looking for more coral types at deeper depths. Anyone else have other suggestions?
Hi David,
I have data (unpublished, sorry) which shows a decrease in skeletal density of P. verrucosa (a depth generalist) as depth increases (7-45m). Hope this helps.
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