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Pioneer settlement of the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus (Esper, 1794) on plastic
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Researchers documented the first known case of a deep-sea coral (Desmophyllum dianthus) colonizing a floating plastic bottle, showing that the coral changed its physical shape to attach to the plastic surface. This finding suggests plastic debris in the ocean can disrupt normal competition for space among bottom-dwelling sea creatures in deep water.
Abstract Larval settlement is a critical step for sessile benthic species such as corals, whose ability to thrive on diverse natural and anthropogenic substrates may lead to a competitive advantage in the colonization of new environments with respect to a narrow tolerance for a specific kind of substratum. Plastic debris, widespread in marine waters, provides a large, motile, and solid substratum supporting a highly diverse biological community. Here we present the first observation of a floating plastic bottle colonized by the deep-sea coral Desmophyllum dianthus . The density pattern and co-occurring species composition suggest a pioneer behavior of this coral species, whose peculiar morphologic plasticity response when interacting with the plastic substrate (i.e., low density polyethylene) has not been observed before. The tolerance of D. dianthus for such plastic substrate may affect ecological processes in deep water environments, disrupting interspecific substrate competition in the benthic community.
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