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Most visitors of Indo-Pacific coral reefs observe underwater an unexpected phenomenon on the seafloor. Some colonies of the soft coral family Xeniidae open and close their polyps, some pulsing in synchronized, and others in unsynchronized, motion. This pulsation behavior represents a striking and fascinating feature because, sessile benthic (coral reef-associated) organisms do not usually show any active body movements. Surprisingly, to date, no study has resolved the potential reasons and triggering factors for such an unusual and apparently energy-costly behavior. Intensive literature research results in only two related studies from the 1950s. These early investigations indicate that water temperature and some inorganic ions may affect pulsation rates of xeniid soft corals (1, 2), unfortunately without providing further insights into the potential reasons and/or associated benefits of their pulsation. Now, however, in PNAS, Kremien et al. (3) have succeeded in bringing some light into the darkness. Our colleagues from Israel are able to show, using an interconnected series of in situ observations and laboratory experiments at the Northern Red Sea, that the pulsation movement of the coral reef-associated soft coral species Heteroxenia fuscescens leads to increased water flow and turbulence, thereby generating at least two great benefits: (i) enhancement of photosynthesis via fast removal of excess oxygen; and (ii) prevention of refiltration of surrounding water by neighboring polyps. Previous research revealed that H. fuscescens can be considered as an autotrophic plant animal (4), because it can cover its full carbon requirement via intense photosynthesis of its endosymbiotic algae, the zooxanthellae, that occur in extraordinarily high numbers in soft coral tissues. The …

Effect of active water movement on energy and nutrient acquisition in coral reef-associated benthic organisms