Transplantation experiments with Mediterranean gorgonians

Branches of gorgonians belonging to four different Mediterranean species (Eunicella singularis (Esper), Paramuricea clavata (Risso), Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus) and Lophogorgia ceratophyta (Linnaeus)) were transplanted to different habitats by means of three different methods, and survival and growth rates were observed over periods ranging from three months to over two years. It was concluded that transplantation of animals still fixed on their natural substratum is to be preferred over transplantations involving artificial devices. Transplanted adult branches of all four species tolerate conditions under which the species are not usually encountered. Tolerances or preferences of larval and juvenile phases must account for these discrepancies. Transplants never survived in shallow waters. Algal competition, abrasion and mechanical destruction due to turbulent water conditions, and in some cases high irradiance values are among the lethal factors. In deeper water, sedimentation is also fatal, although in nature some colonies survive under similar conditions.