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Abstract: The phytoplankton assemblage of Zhubi Reef, a closed coral reef in Nansha Islands (South China Sea, SCS) was studied in June 2007. A total of 92 species belonging to 53 genera and four phyla have been identified. The dominant taxa in the lagoon were the diatom Chaetoceros and cyanobacteria Nostoc and Microcystis, while in reef flats were cyanobacteria Trichodesmium erythraeum, dinoflagellates Gymnodinium and Prorocentrum. The species richness and diversity were consistently lower in the lagoon than in reef flats. Classification and nMDS ordination also revealed significant dissimilarity in phytoplankton community structure between the reef flat and lagoon, with statistical difference in species composition and abundance between them (ANOSIM, p =0.025). Nutrient concentrations also spatially varied, with ammonium-enrichment in the lagoon, while high Si-concentration existed in reef flat areas. Both nutrient levels and currents in SCS may play important roles in determining the composition and distribution of microalgae in Zhubi Reef and SCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zooxanthellae are very important for the coral reef ecosystem. The diversity of coral hosts is high in the South China Sea, but the diversity of zooxanthellae has not yet been investigated. We chose the Zhubi Coral Reef of the Nansha Islands as the region to be surveyed in the present study because it represents a typical tropical coral reef of the South China Sea and we investigated zooxanthellae diversity in 10 host scleractinian coral species using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the large subunit rRNA and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns. Pocillopora verrucosa, Acropora pelifera, Acropora millepora, Fungia fungites, Galaxea fascicularis, and Acropora pruinosa harbor Clade C, Goniastrea aspera harbors Clade D, and Acropora formosa harbors Clades D and C. Therefore, the Clade C is the dominant type in the Zhubi Coral Reef of the Nansha Islands. Furthermore, the results of the present also disprove what has been widely accepted, namely that one coral host harbors only one algal symbiont. The coral-algal symbiosis is flexible, which may be an important mechanism for surviving coral bleaching. Meanwhile, on the basis of the results of the present study, we think that Symbiodinium Clade D may be more tolerant to stress than Symbiodinium Clade C. (Managing editor: Ya-Qin Han) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]