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Coral Reproduction in the Eastern Pacific

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Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Part of the book series: Coral Reefs of the World ((CORW,volume 8))

Abstract

Sexual reproductive activity has been demonstrated in all reef-building (zooxanthellate) scleractinian corals examined from Mexico to the equatorial eastern Pacific (Galápagos Islands). Eleven of 13 species spawn gametes, six are gonochoric, three hermaphroditic, and four exhibit significant mixed sexuality (both gonochoric and hermaphroditic). Four or 30.1 %, two species each of Pocillopora and Porites, produce autotrophic ova. Porites panamensis is the only known zooxanthellate brooder. Also sexually active are the azooxanthellate scleractinian Tubastraea coccinea and the zooxanthellate hydrocoral Millepora intricata. Reproductive structures, sex ratios, age at sexual maturity, sexuality, and developmental mode have been determined from largely histological evidence. Agariciid corals, comprising more than one-third of investigated species, exhibit predominantly mixed sexual systems with sequential cosexual hermaphroditic cycles in four species. Mixed sexuality is also minimally exhibited in populations of two dominantly gonochoric species. Several eastern Pacific corals spawn mostly on lunar day 17 and 1–2 days following; however, multispecific spawning has not been observed probably because of seasonal, diel, and variable timing in spawning behavior. Factors contributing to the high fecundity of eastern Pacific corals include (1) seasonally prolonged reproductive activity, (2) small size of mature gametes allowing for production of high numbers, (3) split spawning with bimonthly gamete production in some species, (4) alternation of sex maturation in gamete development, and possibly (5) their low latitudinal location under relatively constant and high thermal conditions. Coral community persistence, reef growth and recovery are highly dependent on both sexual and asexual reproductive processes. Asexual fragmentation by physical and biotic causes is particularly important, especially for branching pocilloporid species and the fungiid coral Diaseris distorta. Asexual propagation in massive and encrusting poritid and agariciid species is also common-place, often the result of bioerosion and colony breakage by foraging reef fishes. Some research areas in need of attention are noted, for example (a) timing of spawning and the behavior of gamete release of several species, (b) life cycles of Pocillopora spp. and Millepora intricata, and (c) effects of anthropogenic stressors on eastern Pacific coral reproduction and recruitment.

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Acknowledgments

The many individuals who helped with logistics, permitting, collections, histology, and data generation over the years are too numerous to identify here, but are duly acknowledged in the Glynn, Colley et al. publications referenced below. Special thanks go to Bernadette Bezy for sharing information on coral spawning in Costa Rica. This overview benefitted from critiques offered by Joshua S. Feingold and two anonymous reviewers. Information supplied by Peggy Fong, Sascha Steiner and Herman Wirshing is noted with gratitude. We thank Michael C. Schmale for the use of his microscope and digital camera equipment. Joshua Levy and Alissa Mones kindly assisted in producing figures and tables. Principal financial support was provided by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (Biological Oceanography Program), the Office of Forestry, Environment and Natural Resources, Bureau for Science and Technology (USAID), the Darwin Initiative (Conservation International), and the National Geographic Society. Essential in-country support has been offered long-term by the Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (Costa Rica), the University of Panama, Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama), and the Charles Darwin Research Station, Galápagos National Park Service, and Transporte Aereo Militar de Ecuador (Ecuador).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600, Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    Peter W. Glynn

  2. Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, LSU Health Science Center New Orleans, 1700, Tulane Avenue Room 914, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Susan B. Colley

  3. Laboratorio de Ecología y Biología Del Desarrollo, Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Baja California, Mexico

    Eugenio Carpizo-Ituarte

  4. Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 41 Ahui Street, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    Robert H. Richmond

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  1. Peter W. Glynn
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  2. Susan B. Colley
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  3. Eugenio Carpizo-Ituarte
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  4. Robert H. Richmond
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Correspondence to Peter W. Glynn .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RSMAS MBE, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA

    Peter W. Glynn

  2. NOAA/AOML, Miami, Florida, USA

    Derek P. Manzello

  3. RSMAS CIMAS - NOAA/AOML, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ian C. Enochs

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Glynn, P.W., Colley, S.B., Carpizo-Ituarte, E., Richmond, R.H. (2017). Coral Reproduction in the Eastern Pacific. In: Glynn, P., Manzello, D., Enochs, I. (eds) Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Coral Reefs of the World, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7499-4_15

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