Hermatypic coral

Calcium deposition by hermatypic corals under various conditions in the reef. Biol. Bull. 

Hamilton S. E., et al. (1982) y-carboxyglutamic acid in invertebrates its identification in hermatypic corals. Bio-chem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 108, 610-613. 

Calcification mechanisms. The mechanisms of CaCOs deposition have not been clearly defined. Two major questions are involved first, the relation of the organic portion of the skeleton to the initiation and control of crystal growth and, second, the role of the symbiotic photosynthetic zooxanthellae, the algae which grow within the tissue of hermatypic corals (Chapman, 1974). Another persistent question has been the site of crystal initiation, whether it is entirely extracellular or whether it is partly intracellulfir as well (Muscatine, 1971). 

The 5 C values of hermatypic corals from widely separated localities were found to be in the range of approximately +1 to —2 when expressed as the mean 1 standard deviation, whereas ahermatypic corals fell in the range of approximately —5 to —9 (Weber, 1974, Figs. 2.3.2 and 2.3.3). However, there are exceptions to the narrow range for hermatypic species (Land et al., 1975). 

Fig. 2.3.2. Comparison of the range in carbon isotopic composition for hermatypic corals, ahermatypic corals, and marine carbonate precipitated in isotopic equilibrium with the COj" — HCO5 — CO2 system of ambient seawater. All of the corals (111 hermatypes and 59 ahermatypes) were collected from shallow-water, reef surface environments at Heron Island, Australia. The length of the horizontal bars is equivalent to the mean one standard deviation (Weber, 1974).

Goreau, T.F. and Goreau, N.I., 1959b. The physiology of skeletal formation in corals. II. Calcium deposition by hermatypic corals under various conditions in the reef. Biol, Bull., 117 239—250. 

Weber, J.N. and White, E.W., 1974. Activation energy for skeletal aragonite deposited by the hermatypic coral Platygyra spp. Mar. Biol., 26 353—359. 

Hermatypic coral coral characterized by presence of symbiotic unicellular algae. 

Zooxanthellae symbiotic, unicellular algae in the endoderm of hermatypic coral (q.v.) polyps. 

O. Siebeck (1988). Experimental investigation of UV tolerance in hermatypic corals (Scleractinia). Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 43,95-103. 

---