Patterns of coral spawning at Akajima Island, Okinawa, Japan

Abstract

Field observations of spawning behavior of scleractinian corals around Akajima Island were carried out from late spring to summer in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Investigations focused on the degree of spawning synchrony among Acropora spp. and its relation to fluctuations in environmental factors. Eighty-five species, representing 27 genera and 10 families of scleractinian corals, were observed to spawn from May to early September during the 3 years. Spawning of most Acropora spp. took place synchronously but timing varied between the 3rd night before to the 7th night after full moon in May and/or June. Non-Acropora species spawned mainly from the 2nd to the 8th night after full moon from June to August. The relationship between date of spawning and lunar phase was not clear, but other environmental stimul~ such as marked changes of temperature, salinity and current velocity might trigger mass synchronous spawning among the Acropora.

Reproductive ecology of the azooxanthellate coral Tubastraea coccinea in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific: Part V. Dendrophylliidae

“…As for the great majority of scleractinian corals in the Indo-PaciWc region (Harrison and Wallace 1990; Richmond and Hunter 1990;Hayashibara et al 1993;Penland et al 2004;Guest et al 2005), the reproductive mode of most known eastern tropical PaciWc corals is also broadcast spawning (Glynn et al 1991(Glynn et al , 1994(Glynn et al , 1996a. Similar to Tubastraea coccinea, only the small endemic zooxanthellate coral Porites panamensis broods and releases planula larvae (Glynn et al 1994;Smith 1991).…”

Bidirectional sex change in mushroom stony corals

“…reproductive strategies. While the vast majority of scleractinian corals are simultaneous hermaphrodites (Harrison & Wallace 1990;Hayashibara et al 1993), all the corals whose reproduction has been studied within the family Fungiidae have been reported to be gonochoristic ( Fadlallah 1983;Krupp 1983;Harrison & Wallace 1990; Kramarsky-Winter & Loya 1998). We found both F. repanda and C. echinata to be protandrous species with the capacity for bidirectional sex change.…”

“…Falkowsky et al 1984;Sorokin 1993). Despite intensive studies and increasing knowledge over the last three decades of the various reproductive modes in scleractinian corals ( Fadlallah 1983;Schlesinger & Loya 1985;Babcock et al 1986;Heyward et al 1987;Harrison & Wallace 1990;Richmond & Hunter 1990;Hayashibara et al 1993;Hall & Hughes 1996;Kramarsky-Winter et al 1997;Schlesinger et al 1998), we are still far from recognizing the large variety of this group's reproductive strategies.…”

Rapid in situ settlement following spawning by Acropora corals at Ishigaki, southern Japan

“…Recruitment likely continued, with a gentle peak or multiple peaks, if Acropora larvae from various subpopulations in various regions settled sporadically. Second, the settled individuals on the panels in August may have originated from areas near Tomino Reef because several species in this region spawn in August and September (Shimada & Okazaki 1990, Hayashibara et al 1993, Hayashibara & Shimoike 2002, although most Acropora species participate in the mass spawning events in May and June. This possibility is supported by the difference in the genetic composition of the recruited population between June and August (Table 2).…”

“…They spawn egg-sperm bundles for a few nights following a late-spring full moon in both hemispheres (Harrison et al 1984, Hayashibara et al 1993. Some laboratory experiments have suggested that the settlement competency of Acropora larvae begins from the age of 3 d, peaks at 5 to 7 d, and is maintained over 30 d (Morse et al 1996, Nishikawa et al 2003, Harrison 2006, Nozawa & Harrison 2008).…”