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Sexual Reproduction of Scleractinian Corals

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Coral Reefs: An Ecosystem in Transition

Abstract

Sexual reproduction by scleractinian reef corals is important for maintaining coral populations and evolutionary processes. The ongoing global renaissance in coral reproduction research is providing a wealth of new information on this topic, and has almost doubled the global database on coral reproductive patterns during the past two decades. Information on sexual reproduction is now available for 444 scleractinian species, and confirms that hermaphroditic broadcast spawning is the dominant pattern among coral species studied to date. Relatively few hermaphroditic or gonochoric brooding species have been recorded. Multispecific coral spawning has been recorded on many reefs, but the degree of reproductive synchrony varies greatly within and among species at different geographic locations.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Carden Wallace, Anna Scott, and Andrew Carroll for helpful comments on this chapter, and Peta Beeman and Barbara Harrison for assistance with its preparation. I also thank the many colleagues who have contributed unpublished data over many years and copies of their recent publications.

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  1. School of Environmental Science and Management, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    Peter L. Harrison

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  1. , The Mina & Everard Goodman Fac. of Life, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 52900, Israel

    Zvy Dubinsky

  2. , The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 52900, Israel

    Noga Stambler

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Harrison, P.L. (2011). Sexual Reproduction of Scleractinian Corals. In: Dubinsky, Z., Stambler, N. (eds) Coral Reefs: An Ecosystem in Transition. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0114-4_6

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