The "Southern" Astroides calycularis in thePleistocene of the northern Mediterranean-An indicator of climatic changes (Cnidaria, scleractinia)

Abstract

Although presently limited at 37°38′N on the coast of Spain and 40°48′N on the coast of Italy, Astroides calycularislived on the continental coast of France at 43°42′-44′N and on the coast of Corsica at 42°58′N during part of the Pleistocene. Thus it has been found at Nice in the Upper Sicilian and at Monaco in the Upper Tyrrhenian (interstages, respectively, of the Riss and Würm glaciations), and at Cap Corse in the Tyrrhenian (Riss - Würm interglacial). The species apparently took advantage of slightly higher surface water temperatures than those prevailing now in the northern Mediterranean. Although present-day temperatures allow survival, for many years, of transplanted colonies, they are not suitable for successful reproduction. © 1995.