ATTACHMENT 1
THE 8th WORKSHOP
OF THE HYDROZOAN SOCIETY
Ischia (Italy), 20-27 June 2015
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ATTACHMENT 1
NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN ZANCLEA (CNIDARIA,
HYDROZOA) AND SCLERACTINIANS
Montano S1,2, Arrigoni R1,2, Pica D3, Maggioni D1,2 & Puce S3
of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milan – Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Centre (Marine Research and High Education Center), Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Republic
of Maldives
3Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
1Department
2MaRHE
Email: simone.montano@unimib.it
Hydroids in the genus Zanclea are a recently discovered component of the fauna
associated with reef-building corals. The phylogenetic relationships among these
species are not well known. The present work is based on field surveys in the Republic
of Maldives, and for the first time, morphological and molecular analyses are integrated
to distinguish a new hydroid species and provide new information on the ecology of this
symbiosis. This new hydroid, Zanclea gallii sp. n., was associated with the scleractinian
Acropora muricata; it was living sympatrically with its congener Zanclea sango, which
was observed for the first time at this locality on the new scleractinian host Pavona
varians. The relationships between these two hydroids and other available scleractinianassociated Zanclea were investigated using two molecular markers, nuclear 28S rDNA
and mitochondrial 16S rRNA. Zanclea gallii sp. n. and Z. sango were recovered as
distinct lineages within a monophyletic group of scleractinian-associated Zanclea based
on both molecular and morphological data. All Zanclea species that were observed living
in association with scleractinians belong to the ‘polymorpha group’ and share the
morphological characteristic ‘polymorphic colony’. The genus Leptoseris is the 16th host
coral identified for Zanclea. Compared with the frequency of the Z. gallii sp. n.
association with A. muricata and Z. sango with the scleractinian P. varians, the latter is
twice as common; however, the former exhibited higher Zanclea polyps concentrations
over the colony surface. Overall, the Zanclea survey indicates that these diminutive
hydroids are more commonly associated with coral than previously known.