Deep-sea corals are a highly diverse group of marine organisms, several of which are characterised by slow growth and extreme longevity up to thousands of years. Due to their fragile forms, skeletal composition, and location, they are vulnerable to various anthropogenic threats, with some groups expected to have little to no ability to recover. Within the New Zealand region an understanding of age and growth parameters and recovery potential for some deep-sea coral fauna is being developed, but a limited understanding remains for some of the key Antipatharian black coral fauna. Ten individual colonies of the black coral species Bathypathes patula were sourced from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Invertebrate Collection for the purposes of this age estimation study. Corals were selected based on their size, completeness of the colony (whole colony from base to tip), and the regional water mass within which they grew. Coral samples from the Chatham Rise, east of New Zealand, and the Bay of Plenty, north-eastern New Zealand, were selected as the water masses for these two regions are reasonably well understood. Thin section preparations of the main stem of the 10 specimens of B. patula were observed with compound microscopes. Two interpretation protocols were used to describe the zone structures observed, both the coarse wide zones and the thin fine zones, and counts were then made of these structures. Four of the specimens were also sampled for radiocarbon assay. The radiocarbon isotope (14C) age data results were used to independently verify if either of the developed zone counting protocols reflected annual periodicity. Neither method was verified, indicating zone counting protocols could not be used to generate reliable age estimates for B. patula. Twenty radiocarbon assays from four specimens were used to derive the age and growth rate estimates presented here. The radiocarbon results from this work show B. patula to be a long-lived species, attaining ages in excess of 385 years, with linear growth rates of 5.2–9.6 mm/yr, and radial growth rates ranging from 11.1 to 35.7 μm/yr. The delicate nature of these organisms along with their longevity and slow growth rates means a low resilience and low recoverability from anthropogenic activities such as fishing and mining.

中文翻译：

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老化的深海黑珊瑚 Bathypathes patula

深海珊瑚是一组高度多样化的海洋生物，其中一些的特点是生长缓慢，寿命长达数千年。由于它们脆弱的形式、骨骼组成和位置，它们很容易受到各种人为威胁，一些群体预计几乎没有能力恢复。在新西兰地区，正在开发对一些深海珊瑚动物群的年龄和生长参数以及恢复潜力的了解，但对一些关键的 Antipatharian 黑珊瑚动物群的了解仍然有限。出于本次年龄估计研究的目的，黑珊瑚物种 Bathypathes patula 的 10 个个体群来自美国国家水和大气研究所无脊椎动物收藏。珊瑚是根据大小选择的，菌落的完整性（从底部到尖端的整个菌落），以及它们生长的区域水体。选择了来自新西兰东部查塔姆海隆和新西兰东北部丰盛湾的珊瑚样本，因为这两个地区的水团很容易被了解。用复合显微镜观察了10个小扁豆标本主茎的薄切片制备。两种解释协议被用来描述观察到的带结构，粗的宽带和细的细带，然后对这些结构进行计数。四个样本也被取样用于放射性碳测定。放射性碳同位素 (14C) 年龄数据结果用于独立验证任一已开发的区域计数协议是否反映了年度周期性。两种方法都没有验证，表明区域计数协议不能用于生成 B. patula 的可靠年龄估计。来自四个标本的 20 次放射性碳测定被用于推导出这里介绍的年龄和生长率估计值。这项工作的放射性碳结果表明 B. patula 是一种长寿物种，年龄超过 385 年，线性增长率为 5.2-9.6 毫米/年，径向增长率为 11.1 至 35.7 微米/年. 这些生物体的脆弱性以及它们的长寿和缓慢的生长速度意味着从捕鱼和采矿等人为活动中的低复原力和低可恢复性。这项工作的放射性碳结果表明 B. patula 是一种长寿物种，年龄超过 385 年，线性增长率为 5.2-9.6 毫米/年，径向增长率为 11.1 至 35.7 微米/年. 这些生物体的脆弱性以及它们的长寿和缓慢的生长速度意味着从捕鱼和采矿等人为活动中的低复原力和低可恢复性。这项工作的放射性碳结果表明 B. patula 是一种长寿物种，年龄超过 385 年，线性增长率为 5.2-9.6 毫米/年，径向增长率为 11.1 至 35.7 微米/年. 这些生物体的脆弱性以及它们的长寿和缓慢的生长速度意味着从捕鱼和采矿等人为活动中的低复原力和低可恢复性。