Role of symbiotic assemblages in coral host survival: translocation from mesophotic to shallow reef

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In FY2018, we finished the transplantation experiment with the final samplings of the corals and exosymbionts and the molecular analyses of both endo- and exosymbionts. We also performed nutriment and stable isotopes measurements from water sampled at the original and two transplant depths and the corals in collaboration with Dr. Yamazaki and Dr. Watanabe at Hokkaido University. In addition, Dr. Rouze, the JSPS fellow, visited Dr. Naruse, an expert in crustacean taxonomy in Iriomote Station of our University to work together on the taxonomy of a new exosymbiont species. The preliminary data obtained in this project were presented at the Gordon Conference on Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems in USA in June 2018.The massive amount of data obtained by high throughput sequencing of the endosymbionts (Symbiodiniaceae) is still being analysed but the first results suggest a relative qualitative stability over depth contrasting with the quantitative results obtained by qPCR. In parallel, the stable isotopes analyses evidenced the nutritional plasticity of the coral Seriatopora hystrix.Manuscripts reporting these finding are currently being finalized, while a manuscript on the early onset of the symbiosis between Acropora corals and Tetralia crabs has been published in April 2019.