Biocommunication of corals

Abstract

Scleractinian corals are keystone species of tropical reef ecosystems. As with any organism, but corals in particular, the biocommunicative approach regards evolution, development and growth of these organisms as a process that intrinsically relies upon complex and efficient communication patterns. Such patterns are sign-mediated interactions that cannot be reduced to mere exchange of information, but rather require active coordination and active organization mediated via distinctive signs. Communication processes within and among corals take place at varying levels and occur within cells, among cells, between corals of the same species, between corals of different species, and among transspecific organisms that include all phyla of all kingdoms of this tropical ecosystem, from microbes, plants, fungi, and all the way up to higher animal taxa. These processes are most evident when the coral is partly or totally impaired - as is the case with diseased corals. Although corals are almost at the trophic base of shallow tropical reef biota, they are not passive 'prisoners' of their environment. Rather the opposite is the case: being at the base, or more appropriately at the centre, of what a reef community is all about, they actively shape their environment and thereby provide other organisms from other taxa with both habitat and substrate. © IJIB, All rights reserved.