Welcome to Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology! Today is Share:

Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2017, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (12): 4143-4149.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201712.032

• Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Progress of heterotrophic studies on symbiotic corals

YANG Yang-chu-qiao1, HONG Wen-ting1, WANG Shu-hong1*   

  1. 1Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, College of Fishery, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China
  • Received:2017-05-27 Online:2017-12-18 Published:2017-12-18
  • Contact: * E-mail: shwang@jmu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the Demonstration of Marine Economy Innovative Development Project (16PZY002SF18)

Abstract: Heterotrophy of zooxanthellae symbiotic corals refers to the nutrition directly coming from food absorption, not the nutrition obtained from photosynthesis. Most ex situ propagation of symbiotic corals focused on the effects of irradiation, flow rate and water quality on corals, few of them involved in the demand and supply of coral heterotrophic nutrition. This paper reviewed the significance of heterotrophic nutrient supply to symbiotic corals from the sources of coral heterotrophic nutrition, the factors affecting the supply of coral heterotrophic nutrient, and the methods of how to study the coral heterotrophy. In general, the research of coral heterotrophy is just at the beginning stage, and future studies should focus on the inherent mechanism of coral feeding selection and developing more effective research methods.