Positive interactions between corals and damselfish increase coral resistance to temperature stress

By the century’s end, many tropical seas will reach temperatures exceeding most coral species’ thermal tolerance on an annual basis. The persistence of corals in these regions will therefore depend on their abilities to tolerate recurrent thermal stress. Although ecologists have long recognized that positive interspecific interactions can ameliorate environmental stress to expand the realized niche of plants and animals, coral bleaching studies have largely overlooked how interactions with community members outside of the coral holobiont shape the bleaching response. Here, we subjected a common coral, Pocillopora grandis, to 10 days of thermal stress in aquaria with- and without the damselfish Dascyllus flavicaudus (yellowtail dascyllus), which commonly shelter within these corals, to examine how interactions with damselfish impacted coral thermal tolerance. Corals often benefit from nutrients excreted by animals they interact with and prior to thermal stress, corals grown with damselfi..., To assess how fishes influenced coral physiology and thermal tolerance, we measured the dark-adapted quantum yield, symbiont density, and tissue protein content of coral fragments throughout a thermal stress experiment. Measurements were taken on Day 1 when the corals were brought to shore, prior to acclimation with damselfish, and on Day 14 after two weeks of acclimation with or without damselfish present. Temperatures were then increased in half of the tanks over 24 hours to 30.5°C, and subsequent measurements made on Days 17, 20, and 24, corresponding to 3, 6, and 10 days of temperature stress, respectively. After completing our measurements on Day 24, we lowered the temperatures in the heated aquaria back to 27.5°C over 24 hours and collected final measurements on Day 34, after 10 days of recovery.
At each sampling time point, we haphazardly selected one fragment from each tank for sampling. We used PAM fluorometry to measure the maximum dark-adapted quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) af..., , # Positive interactions between corals and damselfish increase coral resistance to temperature stress

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866t9t](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866t9t)

Supplemental data for “Positive Interactions Between Corals and Damselfish Increase Coral Resistance to Temperature Stress”. Data uploaded include coral physiological measurements with descriptors on first page of excel sheet and nutrient measurement data with descriptors on first page of excel sheet.
Any questions regarding this data should be directed to [e-mail]

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