Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-04T15:14:01.043Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Microborings and growth in Late Ordovician halysitids and other corals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Robert J. Elias  and
Dong-Jin Lee
Robert J. Elias
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada
Dong-Jin Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Andong National University, Andong 760-749, Korea
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Microborings in the Late Ordovician tabulate corals Catenipora rubra (a halysitid) and Manipora amicarum (a cateniform nonhalysitid) and in an epizoic solitary rugose coral differ from nearly all of those previously reported in Paleozoic corals. These microborings were formed within the coralla by endolithic algae and fungi located beneath living polyps. Comparable structures in the Late Ordovician tabulate Quepora ?agglomeratiformis (a halysitid) represent algal microborings, not spicules, and halysitids are corals, not sponges as suggested by Kaźmierczak (1989).

Endolithic algae in cateniform tabulates relied primarily on light entering through the outer walls of the ranks rather than through the polyps; lacunae within coralla permitted appropriate levels of light to reach many corallites. The direction of boring was determined by corallum microstructure and possibly also by the distribution of organic matter within the skeleton. There is an apparent inverse correlation between boring activity and coral growth rate.

The location and relative abundance of pyritized microborings within calcareous coralla can be established quantitatively and objectively from electron microprobe determinations of weight percent sulfur along appropriate traverses of the coral skeleton. The distribution of such microborings in Catenipora rubra and Manipora amicarum is comparable to algal banding in modern corals; this is the first report of such banding in the interiors of Paleozoic corals. Change in the intensity of boring within each corallum was evidently a response to variation in the linear growth rate of the coral, or to fluctuation in an environmental factor (perhaps light intensity) that could control both algal activity and growth rate in these corals. Change in the algal boring intensity and linear growth rate of the coral was generally but not always seasonal and usually but not invariably associated with change in the density of coral skeletal deposition.

Cyclic bands of boring abundance maxima within fossil colonial corals provide a measure of annual linear growth comparable to the widely accepted method based on skeletal density bands. Algal bands are more sporadically developed than density bands within and among coralla, thus increasing the difficulty of interpretation. Fluctuations in the abundance of algal microborings apparently provide a detailed record of changes in the linear growth rate of colonies and of individuals within colonies. Combined analyses of microboring abundance and skeletal density will contribute significantly to our understanding of the biological and environmental factors involved in endolithic activity and coral growth.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 67 , Issue 6 , November 1993 , pp. 922 - 934
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexandersson, T. 1972. Micritization of carbonate particles: processes of precipitation and dissolution in modern shallow-marine sediments. University of Uppsala, Geological Institution, Bulletin, New Series, 3:201–236.Google Scholar
Barnes, D. J., and Devereux, M. J. 1988. Variations in skeletal architecture associated with density banding in the hard coral Porites. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 121:37–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertram, G. C. L. 1937. Some aspects of the breakdown of coral at Ghardaqa, Red Sea. Zoological Society of London, Proceedings, 1936:1011–1026.Google Scholar
Bowerbank, J. S. 1842. On the organic tissues in the bony structure of the Corallidae. Royal Society of London, Philosophical Transactions, 132:215–224.Google Scholar
Bromley, R. G. 1970. Borings as trace fossils and Entobia cretacea Portlock, as an example, p. 49–90. In Crimes, T. P. and Harper, J. C. (eds.), Trace Fossils; Proceedings of an International Conference Held at Liverpool University, 6, 7, 8 January 1970 Under the Auspices of the Liverpool Geological Society and Sponsored by the International Union of Geological Sciences (Geological Journal, Special Issue 3). Seel House Press, Liverpool.Google Scholar
Buddemeier, R. W., and Kinzie, R. A. III. 1976. Coral growth, p. 183–225. In Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, 14. Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen.Google Scholar
Buddemeier, R. W., Maragos, J. E., and Knutson, D. W. 1974. Radiographic studies of reef coral exoskeletons: rates and patterns of coral growth. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 14:179–200.Google Scholar
Buehler, E. J. 1955. The morphology and taxonomy of the Halysitidae. Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, Bulletin 8, 79 p.Google Scholar
Clarke, J. M. 1921. Organic Dependence and Disease: Their Origin and Significance. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 113 p. [also issued as New York State Museum Bulletin 221, 222].Google Scholar
Cowan, J. 1971. Ordovician and Silurian stratigraphy of the Interlake area, Manitoba, p. 235–241. In Turnock, A. C. (ed.), Geoscience Studies in Manitoba. Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 9.Google Scholar
Dodge, R. E., and Vaišnys, J. R. 1980. Skeletal growth chronologies of Recent and fossil corals, p. 493–517. In Rhoads, D. C. and Lutz, R. A. (eds.), Skeletal Growth of Aquatic Organisms: Biological Records of Environmental Change (Topics in Geobiology, 1). Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Duerden, J. E. 1902. Boring algae as agents in the disintegration of corals. American Museum of Natural History, Bulletin, 16:323–332.Google Scholar
Duncan, P. M. 1876. On some unicellular algae parasitic within Silurian and Tertiary corals, with a notice of their presence in Calceola sandalina and other fossils. Geological Society of London, Quarterly Journal, 32:205–211.Google Scholar
Duncan, P. M. 1877. On some thallophytes parasitic within recent Madreporaria. Royal Society of London, Proceedings, 25:238–257.Google Scholar
Edmondson, C. H. 1929. Growth of Hawaiian corals. Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 58, 38 p.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1980. Borings in solitary rugose corals of the Selkirk Member, Red River Formation (late Middle or Upper Ordovician), southern Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 17:272–277.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1981. Solitary rugose corals of the Selkirk Member, Red River Formation (late Middle or Upper Ordovician), southern Manitoba. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 344, 53 p.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1982a. Latest Ordovician solitary rugose corals of eastern North America. Bulletins of American Paleontology, 81(314), 116 p.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1982b. Paleoecology and biostratinomy of solitary rugose corals in the Stony Mountain Formation (Upper Ordovician), Stony Mountain, Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 19:1582–1598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1985. Solitary rugose corals of the Upper Ordovician Montoya Group, southern New Mexico and westernmost Texas. Paleontological Society, Memoir 16 (Journal of Paleontology, 59(5), supplement), 58 p.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J., Brandt, D. S., and Clark, T. H. 1990. Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals of the St. Lawrence Lowland, Québec. Journal of Paleontology, 64:340–352.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J., Zeilstra, R. G., and Bayer, T. N. 1988. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on horn corals, with an example from the Late Ordovician of North America. Palaios, 3:22–34.Google Scholar
Etheridge, R. Jr. 1899. On two additional perforating bodies, believed to be thallophytic cryptograms, from the lower Palaeozoic rocks of N. S. Wales. Australian Museum, Records, 3:121–127.Google Scholar
Finks, R. M. 1986. “Spicules” in Thamnopora. Fossil Cnidaria, 15(1.2):22.Google Scholar
Flower, R. H. 1961. Montoya and related colonial corals. New Mexico State Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Memoir 7, Part 1, 97 p.Google Scholar
Franzisket, L. 1968. Zur Ökologie der Fadenalgen im Skelett lebender Riffkorallen. Zoologische Jahrbucher, Abteilung für allgemeine Zoologie und Physiologie der Tiere, 74:246–253.Google Scholar
Gatrall, M., and Golubic, S. 1970. Comparative study on some Jurassic and Recent endolithic fungi using scanning electron microscope, p. 167–178. In Crimes, T. P. and Harper, J. C. (eds.), Trace Fossils; Proceedings of an International Conference Held at Liverpool University, 6, 7, 8 January 1970 Under the Auspices of the Liverpool Geological Society and Sponsored by the International Union of Geological Sciences (Geological Journal, Special Issue 3). Seel House Press, Liverpool.Google Scholar
Glynn, P. W. 1974. Rolling stones among the Scleractinia: mobile coralliths in the Gulf of Panama, p. 183–198. In Proceedings of the Second International Coral Reef Symposium, 2. Great Barrier Reef Committee, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Golubic, S., Perkins, R. D., and Lukas, K. J. 1975. Boring microorganisms and microborings in carbonate substrates, p. 229–259. In Frey, R. W. (ed.), The Study of Trace Fossils. Springer-Verlag, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goreau, T. F. 1956. A study of the biology and histochemistry of corals. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 227 p.Google Scholar
Goudge, M. F. 1945. Limestones of Canada, their occurrence and characteristics; Part V, Western Canada. Canada Department of Mines and Resources, Publication 811, 233 p.Google Scholar
Halldal, P. 1968. Photosynthetic capacities and photosynthetic action spectra of endozoic algae of the massive coral Favia. Biological Bulletin, 134:411–424.Google Scholar
Hamada, T. 1959. Corallum growth of the Halysitidae. University of Tokyo, Faculty of Science, Journal, Section 2, 11:273–289.Google Scholar
Hessland, I. 1949. Investigations of the Lower Ordovician of the Siljan District, Sweden; II: Lower Ordovician penetrative and enveloping algae from the Siljan District. University of Uppsala, Geological Institution, Bulletin, 33:409–428.Google Scholar
Hill, D. 1981. Rugosa and Tabulata, 2, p. F379–F762. In Teichert, C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part F, Coelenterata, Supplement 1. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Kanwisher, J. W., and Wainwright, S. A. 1967. Oxygen balance in some reef corals. Biological Bulletin, 133:378–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaźmierczak, J. 1984. Favositid tabulates: evidence for poriferan affinity. Science, 225:835–837.Google Scholar
Kaźmierczak, J. 1989. Halysitid tabulates: sponges in corals' clothing. Lethaia, 22:195–205.Google Scholar
Kaźmierczak, J. 1991. Further evidence for poriferan affinities of favositids, p. 212–223. In Reitner, J. and Keupp, H. (eds.), Fossil and Recent Sponges. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Kaźmierczak, J. 1993. Sclerite-bearing alveolitid favositids from the Devonian of central Poland. Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 67:27–44.Google Scholar
Kendall, A. C. 1977. Origin of dolomite mottling in Ordovician limestones from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, 25:480–504.Google Scholar
Knutson, D. W., Buddemeier, R. W., and Smith, S. V. 1972. Coral chronometers: seasonal growth bands in reef corals. Science, 177:270–272.Google Scholar
Kobluk, D. R., and Risk, M. J. 1974. Devonian boring algae or fungi associated with micrite tubules. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 11:1606–1610.Google Scholar
Kobluk, D. R., and Risk, M. J. 1977. Algal borings and framboidal pyrite in Upper Ordovician brachiopods. Lethaia, 10:135–143.Google Scholar
Lee, D.-J., and Elias, R. J. 1991. Mode of growth and life-history strategies of a Late Ordovician halysitid coral. Journal of Paleontology, 65:191–199.Google Scholar
Lukas, K. J. 1969. An investigation of the filamentous, endolithic algae in shallow-water corals from Bermuda, p. 145–152. In Ginsburg, R. N. and Garrett, P. (eds.), Reports of Research, 1968, Seminar on Organism–Sediment Interrelationships. Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Special Publication 2.Google Scholar
Lukas, K. J. 1973. Taxonomy and ecology of the endolithic microflora of reef corals with a review of the literature on endolithic microphytes. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, 159 p.Google Scholar
Ma, T. Y. H. 1933. On the seasonal change of growth in some Palaeozoic corals. Imperial Academy (of Japan), Proceedings, 9:407–409.Google Scholar
Macintyre, I. G., and Smith, S. V. 1974. X-radiographic studies of skeletal development in coral colonies, p. 277–287. In Proceedings of the Second International Coral Reef Symposium, 2. Great Barrier Reef Committee, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Macintyre, I. G., and Towe, K. M. 1976. Skeletal calcite in living scleractinian corals: microboring fillings, not primary skeletal deposits. Science, 193:701–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAuley, R. J., and Elias, R. J. 1990. Latest Ordovician to earliest Silurian solitary rugose corals of the east-central United States. Bulletins of American Paleontology, 98(333) 82 p.Google Scholar
Odum, H. T., and Odum, E. P. 1955. Trophic structure and productivity of a windward coral reef community on Eniwetok Atoll. Ecological Monographs, 25:291–320.Google Scholar
Oekentorp, K. 1980. Aragonit und Diagenese bei jungpaläozoischen Korallen. Münsterische Forschungen zur Geologie und Paläontologie, 52:119–239.Google Scholar
Oekentorp, K. 1985. Spicules in favositid Tabulata—remarks to J. Kazmierczak's interpretation. Fossil Cnidaria, 14(1):34–35.Google Scholar
Quekett, J. 1854. Lectures on Histology, Delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, in the Session 1851–52; II: Structure of the Skeleton of Plants and Invertebrate Animals. Hippolyte Bailliere, London, 413 p.Google Scholar
Reitner, J. 1989. Are halysitid tabulates sponges?: some remarks to J. Kazmierczak's “spicules” in Quepora ? agglomeratiformis (Whitefield [sic]). Fossil Cnidaria, 18(2):22–25.Google Scholar
Risk, M. J., Pagani, S. E., and Elias, R. J. 1987. Another internal clock: preliminary estimates of growth rates based on cycles of algal boring activity. Palaios, 2:323–331.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C. T. 1984. Origin and early evolution of tabulate corals, p. 110–118. In Oliver, W. A. Jr., Sando, W. J., Cairns, S. D., Coates, A. G., Macintyre, I. G., Bayer, F. M., and Sorauf, J. E. (eds.), Recent Advances in the Paleobiology and Geology of the Cnidaria; Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Fossil Cnidaria (and Archaeocyathids and Stromatoporoids) Held in Washington, DC, U.S.A., August, 1983. Palaeontographica Americana, 54.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C. T. 1989. Intracolonial and intraspecific variation in tabulate corals, p. 33–43. In Jell, P. A. and Pickett, J. W. (eds.), Fossil Cnidaria 5; Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Fossil Cnidaria including Archaeocyatha and Spongiomorphs Held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 25–29 July 1988. Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, Memoir 8.Google Scholar
Shibata, K., and Haxo, F. T. 1969. Light transmission and spectral distribution through epi- and endozoic algal layers in the brain coral, Favia. Biological Bulletin, 136:461–468.Google Scholar
Sinclair, G. W. 1955. Some Ordovician halysitoid corals. Royal Society of Canada, Transactions, Series 3, 49:95–103.Google Scholar
Stichtenoth, C. W. 1977. Endoliths in fossils from the Waynesville Formation (Upper Ordovician) of southeastern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Unpubl. , , Bowling Green, Ohio, 60 p.Google Scholar
Sweet, W. C. 1979. Late Ordovician conodonts and biostratigraphy of the western Midcontinent Province, p. 45–85. In Sandberg, C. A. and Clark, D. L. (eds.), Conodont Biostratigraphy of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains. Brigham Young University, Geology Studies, 26 (3).Google Scholar
Westrop, S. R., and Ludvigsen, R. 1983. Systematics and paleoecology of Upper Ordovician trilobites from the Selkirk Member of the Red River Formation, southern Manitoba. Manitoba Department of Energy and Mines, Geological Report GR 82-2, 51 p.Google Scholar
Wood, R., Copper, P., and Reitner, J. 1990. “Spicules” in halysitids: a reply. Lethaia, 23:113–114.Google Scholar