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Interspecific differences in the post-settlement survival of Acropora corals under a common garden experiment

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Abstract

Extremely low post-settlement survival is one of the largest barriers for artificial rehabilitation of Acropora corals. However, little data have been found for interspecific difference of the post-settlement survival probably because the observation of coral juvenile is difficult in the field. Here, we analyzed the survival of three dominant species of Acropora corals (A. digitifera, A. tenuis, A. yongei), with different colony morphologies and habitat preferences, for 2 years after settlement under the same environmental conditions. The post-settlement survival was significantly higher for A. tenuis than for A. digitifera 3 months after settlement. Two years later, the survival rate of A. tenuis was approximately 15 times higher than A. digitifera. In a separate analysis of three bottle-brush species (A. awi, A. echinata, A. subglabra) and A. tenuis, post-settlement survival was always higher for A. awi than for other two bottle-brush species, suggesting that the initial survival was different among morphologically sister species. Low survival was possibly associated with slow growth rates during the first 7 months. Thus, species selection is important for successful artificial coral rehabilitation, with A. tenuis being the most viable option. Alternatively, new techniques are required to improve post-settlement survival of slow growing coral species.

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Acknowledgements

This study formed part of the Coral Propagation under Severe Environmental Conditions project of the Fisheries Agency, Japan, and was partly supported by a JSPS KAKENHI Grant (15H04538 for GS). The sampling of corals was permitted by the Okinawa Prefectural Government for research purposes (no. 24-54 and 27-73).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Subtropical Fisheries, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, 148 Fukai-Ohta, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0451, Japan

    Go Suzuki, Sayaka Kai, Yuji Fujikura, Iwao Tanita, Hiroshi Yamashita & Takeshi Hayashibara

  2. ECOH Corporation, Ueno-Takeuchi Bldg., 2-6-4, Kita-Ueno Taito-ku, Tokyo, 110-0014, Japan

    Wataru Okada & Youko Yasutake

  3. Fisheries Infrastructure Development Center, 2-14-5 Tukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Wataru Ando

  4. Fishery Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 1-2-1, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8907, Japan

    Koichi Nogami & Masayuki Fudo

Authors
  1. Go Suzuki
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  2. Wataru Okada
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  3. Youko Yasutake
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  4. Sayaka Kai
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  5. Yuji Fujikura
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  6. Iwao Tanita
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  7. Hiroshi Yamashita
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  8. Takeshi Hayashibara
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  9. Wataru Ando
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  10. Koichi Nogami
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  11. Masayuki Fudo
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Correspondence to Go Suzuki.

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Suzuki, G., Okada, W., Yasutake, Y. et al. Interspecific differences in the post-settlement survival of Acropora corals under a common garden experiment. Fish Sci 84, 849–856 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-018-1230-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-018-1230-5

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