Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Coral reproduction in the world’s warmest reefs: southern Persian Gulf (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

  • Report
  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Despite extensive research on coral reproduction from numerous geographic locations, there remains limited knowledge within the Persian Gulf. Given that corals in the Persian Gulf exist in one of the most stressful environments for reef corals, with annual variations in sea surface temperature (SST) of 12°C and maximum summer mean SSTs of 36°C, understanding coral reproductive biology in the Gulf may provide clues as to how corals may cope with global warming. In this study, we examined six locally common coral species on two shallow reef sites in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in 2008 and 2009 to investigate the patterns of reproduction, in particular the timing and synchrony of spawning. In total, 71% colonies in April 2008 and 63% colonies in April 2009 contained mature oocytes. However, the presence of mature gametes in May indicated that spawning was potentially split between April and May in all species. These results demonstrate that coral reproduction patterns within this region are highly seasonal and that multi-species spawning synchrony is highly probable. Acropora downingi, Cyphastrea microphthalma and Platygyra daedalea were all hermaphroditic broadcast spawners with a single annual gametogenic cycle. Furthermore, fecundity and mature oocyte sizes were comparable to those in other regions. We conclude that the reproductive biology of corals in the southern Persian Gulf is similar to other regions, indicating that these species have adapted to the extreme environmental conditions in the southern Persian Gulf.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Baird AH, Marshall PA (2002) Mortality, growth and reproduction in scleractinian corals following bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 237:133–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baird AH, Maynard JA (2008) Coral adaptation in the face of climate change. Science 320:315

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baird AH, Marshall PA, Wolstenholme J (2002) Latitudinal variation in the reproduction of Acropora in the Coral Sea. Proc 9th Int Coral Reef Symp 1: 385–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird AH, Guest JR, Willis BL (2009a) Systematic and biogeographical patterns in the reproductive biology of scleractinian corals. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 40:531–571

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird AH, Birrell CL, Hughes TP, McDonald A, Nojima S, Page C, Pratchett MS, Yamasaki H (2009b) Latitudinal variation in reproductive synchrony in Acropora assemblages: Japan vs. Australia. Galaxea 11:101–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bastidas C, Cróquer A, Zubillaga AL, Ramos R, Kortnik R, Weinberger C, Márquez LM (2005) Coral mass- and split-spawning at a coastal and an offshore Venezuelan reefs, southern Caribbean. Hydrobiologia 541:101–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burt J, Bartholomew A, Usseglio P (2008) Recovery of corals a decade after bleaching event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mar Biol 154:27–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coles SL, Brown BE (2003) Coral bleaching-capacity for acclimatization and adaptation. Adv Mar Biol 46:183–223

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coles SL, Fadlallah YH (1991) Reef coral survival and mortality at low-temperatures in the Arabian Gulf—new species-lower temperature limits. Coral Reefs 9:231–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dai CF, Soong K, Fan TY (1992) Sexual reproduction of corals in northern and southern Taiwan. Proc 7th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:448–455

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadlallah YH (1996) Synchronous spawning of Acropora clathrata coral colonies from the western Arabian Gulf (Saudi Arabia). Bull Mar Sci 59:209–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadlallah YH, Lindo RT (1988) Contrasting cycles of reproduction in Stylophora pistillata from the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, with emphasis on temperature. Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 3:225–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadlallah YH, Lindo RT, Lennon DJ (1992) Annual synchronous spawning event in Acropora species for the western Arabian Gulf. Proc 7th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:501

  • Gilmour JP, Smith LD, Brinkman RM (2009) Biannual spawning, rapid larval development and evidence of self-seeding for scleractinian corals at an isolated system of reefs. Mar Biol 156:1297–1309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanafy MH, Aamer MA, Habib M, Rouphael AB, Baird AH (2010) Synchronous reproduction in the Red Sea. Coral Reefs 29:119–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison PL (1995) Status of the coral reefs of Kuwait. Final report to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the United Nations Development Programme. UNIDO and UNDP, Vienna

  • Harrison PL, Wallace CC (1990) Reproduction, dispersal and recruitment of scleractinian corals. In: Dubinsky Z (ed) Coral reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 133–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison PL, Babcock RC, Bull GD, Oliver JK, Wallace CC, Willis BL (1984) Mass spawning in tropical reef corals. Science 223:1187–1188

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg, Mumby PJ, Hooten AJ, Steneck RS, Greenfield P, Gomez E, Harvell CD, Sale PF, Edwards AJ, Caldeira K, Knowlton N, Eakin CM, Iglesias-Prieto R, Muthiga N, Bradbury RH, Dubi A, Hatziolos ME (2007) Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318:1737–1742

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. Contributions of working group I to the fourth assessment report on the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, p 386

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsman DJJ (1964) Reef coral tolerance of high temperatures and salinities. Nature 202:1280–1282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kongjandtre N, Ridgway T, Ward S, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2010) Broadcast spawning patterns of Favia species on the inshore reefs of Thailand. Coral Reefs 29:227–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence AJ, Soame JM (2004) The effects of climate change on the reproduction of coastal invertebrates. Ibis 146:29–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mangubhai S, Harrison PL (2008) Gametogenesis, spawning and fecundity of Platygyra daedalea (Scleractinia) on equatorial reefs in Kenya. Coral Reefs 27:117–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan T, Weil E, Cortés J, Baird AH, Ateweberhan M (2009) Consequences of coral bleaching for sessile reef organisms. In: van Oppen MJH, Lough JM (eds) Ecological studies: coral bleaching: patterns, processes, causes and consequences. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 121–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendes JM, Woodley JD (2002) Effects of the 1995–1996 bleaching event on polyp tissue depth, growth, reproduction and skeletal band formation in Montastraea annularis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 235:93–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michalek-Wagner K, Willis BL (2001) Impacts of bleaching on the soft coral Lobophytum compactum. I. Fecundity, fertilization and offspring viability. Coral Reefs 19:231–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okubo N, Motokawa T, Omori M (2007) When fragmented coral spawn? Effect of size and timing on survivorship and fecundity of fragmentation in Acropora formosa. Mar Biol 151:353–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olive PW, Clark S, Lawrence A (1990) Global warming and seasonal reproduction: perception and transduction of environmental information. Adv Invert Reprod 5:265–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (2007) Technical summary. In: Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof FP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (eds) Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 23–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierson WJ, Moskowitz LA (1964) Proposed spectral form fully developed wind seas based on the similarity theory of S.A. Kitaigorodskii. J Geophys Res 69:5181–5190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Przeslawski R, Ahyong S, Byrne M, Wörheides G, Hutchings P (2008) Beyond corals and fish: the effects of climate change on noncoral benthic invertebrates of tropical reefs. Global Change Biol 14:2773–2795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riegl B (1999) Corals in a non-reef setting in the southern Arabian Gulf (Dubai, UAE): fauna and community structure in response to recurring mass mortality. Coral Reefs 18:63–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riegl B (2003) Climate change and coral reefs: different effects in two high-latitude areas (Arabian Gulf, South Africa). Coral Reefs 22:433–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rinkevich B, Loya Y (1979) The reproduction of the Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata. I. Gonads and planulae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 60:185–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard CRC (1988) Similar trends, different causes: responses of corals to stressed environments in Arabian seas. Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 3: 297–302

  • Sheppard CRC (1993) Physical environment of the Gulf relevant to marine pollution: an overview. Mar Pollut Bull 27:3–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard CRC, Price A, Roberts C (1992) Marine ecology of the Arabian region: patterns and processes in extreme tropical environments. Academic Press, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard CRC, Wilson SC, Salm RV, Dixon D (2000) Reefs and coral communities of the Arabian Gulf and Arabian Sea. In: McClanahan TR, Sheppard CRC, Obura DO (eds) Coral reefs of the Indian Ocean: their ecology and conservation. Oxford University Press, USA, pp 257–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard CRC, Al-Husiani M, Al-Jamali F, Al-Yamani F, Baldwin R, Bishop J, Benzoni F, Dutrieux E, Dulvy NK, Durvasula SRV, Jones DA, Loughland R, Medio D, Nithyanandan M, Pilling GM, Polikarpov I, Price ARG, Purkis S, Riegl B, Saburova M, Namin KS, Taylor O, Wilson S, Zainal K (2010) The Gulf: A young sea in decline. Mar Pollut Bull 60:13–38

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shlesinger Y, Goulet TL, Loya Y (1998) Reproductive patterns of scleractinian corals in the northern Red Sea. Mar Biol 132:691–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sier CJS, Olive PJW (1994) Reproduction and reproductive variability in coral Pocillopora verrucosa from the Republic of Maldives. Mar Biol 118:713–722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strong AE, Liu G, Eakin CM, Christensen TRL, Skirving WJ, Gledhill DK, Heron SF, Morgan JA (2008) Implications for our coral reefs in a changing climate over the next few decades: hints from the past 22 years. Proc 11th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:1324–1328

    Google Scholar 

  • van Woesik R (2010) Calm before the spawn: global coral spawning patterns are explained by regional wind fields. Proc R Soc B 277:715–722

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Willis BL, Babcock RC, Harrison PL, Oliver JK (1985) Patterns in the mass spawning of corals on the Great Barrier Reef from 1981 to 1984. Proc 5th Int Coral Reef Symp 4:343–348

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank A. Al Hashmi, M. Bernardo and L. Vanneyre, Nakheel PJSC and the Emirates Marine Environmental Group for assistance with field and laboratory work. This study was funded by the Nakheel—UNU-INWEH research program. The manuscript was greatly improved by comments from three anonymous reviewers and D. Feary.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, 4811, Australia

    A. G. Bauman & A. H. Baird

  2. Coastal Zone and Waterways Management Section, Environment Department, Dubai Municipality, P.O. Box 67, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    G. H. Cavalcante

Authors
  1. A. G. Bauman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. H. Baird
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. H. Cavalcante
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. G. Bauman.

Additional information

Communicated by Geology Editor Prof. Bernhard Riegl

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 146 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bauman, A.G., Baird, A.H. & Cavalcante, G.H. Coral reproduction in the world’s warmest reefs: southern Persian Gulf (Dubai, United Arab Emirates). Coral Reefs 30, 405–413 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-010-0711-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-010-0711-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation