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Many calcifying organisms exert significant biological control over the construction and composition of biominerals which are thus generally depleted in oxygen-18 and carbon-13 relative to the isotopic ratios of abiogenic aragonite. The skeletal δ18O and δ13C values of specimens of Mediterranean zooxanthellate (Balanophyllia europaea and Cladocora caespitosa) and non-zooxanthellate corals (Leptopsammia pruvoti and Caryophyllia inornata) were assessed along an 8° latitudinal gradient along Western Italian coasts, spanning ~2 °C and ~37 W m-2 of annual average sea surface temperature and solar radiation (surface values), respectively. Seawater δ18O and δ13CDIC were surprisingly constant along the ~850 km latitudinal gradient while a ~2 and ~4 ‰ variation in skeletal δ18O and a ~4 and ~9 ‰ variation in skeletal δ13C was found in the zooxanthellate and non-zooxanthellate species, respectively. Albeit Mediterranean corals considered in this study are slow growing, only a limited number of non-zooxanthellate specimens exhibited skeletal δ18O equilibrium values while all δ13C values in the four species were depleted in comparison to the estimated isotopic equilibrium with ambient seawater, suggesting that these temperate corals cannot be used for thermometry-based seawater reconstruction. Calcification rate, linear extension rate and skeletal density were unrelated to isotopic compositions. The fact that skeletal δ18O and δ13C of zooxanthellate corals were confined to a narrower range at the most isotopically depleted end compared to non-zooxanthellate corals, suggests that the photosynthetic activity may restrict corals to a limited range of isotopic composition, away from isotopic equilibrium for both isotopes. Our data show that individual corals within the same species express the full range of isotope fractionation. These results suggest that metabolic and/or kinetic effects may act as controlling factors of isotope variability of skeleton composition along the transect, and that precipitation of coral skeletal aragonite occurs under controlling kinetic biological processes, rather than thermodynamic control, by yet unidentified mechanisms.

10 páginas, 7 figuras, 2 tablas., In recent years, some of the ramifications of the ocean acidification problematic derived from the anthropogenic rising of atmospheric CO2 have been widely studied. In particular, the potential effects of a lowering pH on tropical coral reefs have received special attention. However, only a few studies have focused on testing the effects of ocean acidification in corals from the Mediterranean Sea, despite the fact that this basin is especially sensitive to increasing atmospheric CO2. In this context, we investigated the response to ocean acidification of the two zooxanthellate coral species capable of constituting the main framework of the community, the endemic Cladocora caespitosa and the non-native Oculina patagonica. To this end, we examined the response of both species to pCO2 concentrations expected by the end of the century, 800 ppm, vs the present levels. Calcification rate measurements after 92 days of exposure to low pH conditions showed the same negative response in both species, a decrease of 32–35% compared to corals reared under control conditions. In addition, we detected in both species a correlation between the calcification rate of colonies in control conditions and the degree of impairment of the same colonies at low pH. Independent of species, faster growing colonies were more affected by decreased pH. After this period of decreased pH, we conducted a recovery experiment, in which corals reared in the acidic treatment were brought back to control conditions. In this case, normal calcification rates were reached in both species. Overall, our results suggest that O. patagonica and C. caespitosa will both be affected detrimentally by progressive ocean acidification in the near future. They do not display differences in response between native and non-native species but do manifest differential responses depending on calcification rate, pointing to a role of the coral genetics in determining the response of corals to ocean acidification., Financial support for this study was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through projects CTM2006-01957/MAR, CTM2009-08849/MAR, CGL2010-18466 and a FPI studentship (BES-2007-16537) to J.M. This work is a contribution from the Marine Biogeochemistry and Global Change research group, funded by Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government) through grant 2009SGR142. [RH]