Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Sexual reproduction of three coral species from the Mexican South Pacific

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Our understanding of the reproductive biology of corals from the Mexican southeastern Pacific is limited, and consequently, the role of reproduction in structuring coral communities is unclear. As a first attempt to understand the importance of sexual reproduction in structuring and maintaining of the coral communities from this region, we documented the reproductive cycles over 2 years (2003–2004) in three main reef-building corals species in the region. Pocillopora damicornis was shown to be hermaphroditic with asynchronous gamete development observed only in 2004; P. gigantea was characterized as both gonochoric and cosexually hermaphroditic. Absence of mature gametes was documented in both species, and an observation may be attributed to the 2003 El Niño Southern Oscillation event, which may have inhibited reproductive maturation via thermal stress. Porites panamensis was gonochoric with asynchronous development, and planulae were generally brooded. The presence of mature gametes and planulae in P. panamensis polyps suggests that this species is an important contributor to local and, likely, regional recruitment of this species. Further research should seek to identify important source populations for these coral recruits and document the exchange of larvae between coral populations of the Mexican Pacific.

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
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ayre DJ, Huges TP, Standish RJ (1997) Genetic differentiation, reproductive mode, and gene flow in the brooding coral Pocillopora damicornis along the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 159:175–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babcock RC, Bull GD, Harrison PL, Heyward AJ, Oliver JK, Wallace CC, Willis BL (1986) Synchronous spawning of 105 scleractinian coral species on the Great Barrier Reef. Mar Biol 90:379–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badan A (1997) La Corriente Costera de Costa Rica en el Pacífico Mexicano. In: Lavín F (ed) Contribuciones a la Oceanografía Física en México: Monografía No. 3. Unión Geofísica Mexicana, pp 99–112

  • Carpizo-Ituarte E, Vizcaino Ochoa V, Chi Barragan G, Tapia Vázquez O, Cupul-Magaña A, Medina-Rosas P (2011) Evidence of Sexual reproduction in the hermatypic corals Pocillopora damicornis, Porites panamensis and Pavona gigantea in Banderas Bay, Mexican Pacific. Ciencias Marinas 37:97–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Carriquiry JD, Reyes-Bonilla H (1997) Community structure and geographic distribution of the coral reefs of Nayarit, Mexican Pacific. Ciencias Marinas 23:227–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Carriquiry JD, Cupul-Magaña AL, Rodríguez-Zaragoza F, Medina-Rosas P (2001) Coral bleaching and mortality in the Mexican Pacific during the 1997–98 El Niño and prediction from a remote sensing approach. Bull Mar Sci 69:237–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Chávez-Romo E, Reyes-Bonilla H (2007) Sexual reproduction of the coral Pocillopora damicornis in the southern Gulf of California, Mexico. Ciencias Marinas 33:495–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Chorensky EA, Peters EC (1987) Sexual reproduction and colony growth in the scleractinian coral Porites asteroides. Biol Bull 172:161–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cupul-Magaña AL, Aranda-Mena OS, Medina-Rosas P, Vizcaíno-Ochoa V (2000) Comunidades coralinas de las Islas Marietas, Bahía Banderas, Jalisco-Nayarit, México. Rev Mexicoa 1:14–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies SP (1984) The role of zooxanthellae in the nutritional energy requirements of Pocillopora eydouxi. Coral Reefs 2:181–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadlallah YH (1983) Sexual reproduction, development and larval biology in scleractinian corals. Coral Reefs 2:129–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiedler PC (1962) Seasonal climatologies and variability of eastern tropical pacific surface waters. NOAA. Technical Report. NMFS109 Southeast Fisheries Science Center

  • Glynn PW (2001) Eastern Pacific coral reef ecosystems. In: Seeliger U, Kjerfve B (eds) Coastal marine ecosystems of Latin America ecological studies, vol 144. Springer-Verlag, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Adult JS (2000) A biogeographic analysis and review of the far eastern Pacific coral reef region. Coral Reefs 19:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Leyte-Morales GE (1997) Coral reefs of Huatulco, West Mexico: reef development in upwelling Gulf of Tehuantepec. Rev Biol Trop 45:1033–1047

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Pérez M, Gilchrist SL (1985) Lipid decline in stressed corals and their crustacean symbionts. Biol Bull 168:274–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Gassman NJ, Eakin CM, Cortés J, Smith DB, Guzman HM (1991) Reef coral reproduction in the eastern Pacific: Costa Rica, Panama and Galapagos Island (Ecuador). I. Pocilloporidae. Mar Biol 109:355–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Colley SB, Eakin CM, Smith DB, Cortés J, Gassman NJ, Guzmán HM, del Rosario JB, Feingold JS (1994) Reef coral reproduction in the eastern Pacific: Costa Rica, Panamá, and Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). II. Poritidae. Mar Biol 118:191–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Colley SB, Gassman NJ, Black K, Cortés J, Maté JL (1996) Reef coral reproduction in the eastern Pacific: Costa Rica, Panamá and Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). III. Agariciidae (Pavona gigantea and Gardineroseris planulata). Mar Biol 125:579–601

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham EM, Baird AH, Connolly SR (2008) Survival dynamics of scleractinian coral larvae and implications for dispersal. Coral Reefs 27:529–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grottoli AG, Rodrigues LJ, Juarez C (2004) Lipids and stable carbon isotopes in two species of Hawaiian corals Porites compressa and Montipora verrucosa, following a bleaching event. Mar Biol 145:621–631

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harii S, Kayanne H, Takigawa H, Hayashibara T, Yamamoto M (2002) Larval survivorship competency periods and settlement of two brooding coral, Heliopora coerulea and Pocillopora damicornis. Mar Biol 141:39–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison PL (1985) Sexual characteristics of scleractinan corals: systematic and evolutionary implications. Proc 5th Coral Reef Cong Tahiti 4:337–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison PC, Wallace CC (1990) Reproduction, dispersal and recruitment of scleractinian corals. In: Dubinsky Z (ed) Ecosystems of the World 25. Coral Reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 133–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison PC, Babcock RC, Bull GD, Oliver JK, Valle CC, Willis BL (1984) Mass spawning in tropical reefs corals. Science 464:221–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyward AJ, Babcock RC (1986) Self- and cross-fertilization in scleractinian corals. Mar Biol 90:191–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Highsmith RC (1982) Reproduction by fragmentation in corals. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 7:207–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humanson GL (1967) Animal tissue technique. W H Freeman and Company, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Jokiel PL, Guinther EB (1978) Effects of temperature on reproduction in the hermatypic coral Pocillopora damicornis. Bull Mar Sci 28:786–789

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Pérez RA, Hernández-Ballesteros LM (2004) Coral community structure and dynamics in the Huatulco area, Western Mexico. Bull Mar Sci 75:453–472

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Pérez RA, Mora-Pérez MG, Leyte-Morales GE (2007) Coral (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) recruitment at Bahías de Huatulco, Western Mexico: implications for coral community structure and dynamics. Pac Sci 3:355–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin-Chávez E (1986) Gametogenesis and origin of planulae in the hermatypic coral Pocillopora damicornis. In: Jokiel PL, Richmond RH, Rogers RA (eds) Coral reef population biology. Hawaii Inst Mar Biol Tech Rep 37:193–205

  • McPhaden M (2004) Evolution of the 2002–03 El Niño. Bull Am Metrol Soc 85:677–695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medina-Rosas P, Carriquiry JD, Cupul-Magaña AL (2005) Recruitment of Porites (Scleractinia) on artificial substrate in reefs affected by the 1997–98 El Niño in Banderas Bay, Mexican Pacific. Ciencias Marinas 31:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller KC, Mundy C (2003) Rapid settlement and broadcast spawning corals: implications for larval dispersal. Coral Reefs 22:99–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molina-Cruz A, Martínez-López M (1994) Oceanography of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico, indicated by Radiolaria remains. Paleogogr Paleoclimatol Palaecol 110:179–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mora-Pérez MG (2005) Biología reproductiva del coral Porites panamensis Verrill 1866 (Anthozoa: Scleractinia), en Bahía de la Paz, Baja California Sur, México. Ms. Thesis, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, p 81

  • Neves EG (2000) Histological analysis of reproductive trends of three porites species from Kane’ohe bay, Hawai’i. Pac Sci 54:195–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton JS, Abraham S, Benson AA (1977) Lipogenesis in the intact coral Pocillopora capitata and its isolated zooxanthellae: evidence for a light-driven carbon cycle between symbiont and host. Mar Biol 44:235–247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H (2001) Effects of the 1997–98 El Niño Southern Oscillation on coral communities of the Gulf of California. Bull Mar Sci 69:251–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H (2003) Coral reefs on the Pacific coast of Mexico. In: Cortés J (ed) Latin American coral reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 331–349

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H, López-Pérez RA (1998) Biogeography of the ahermatypic corals (Scleractinia) of the Mexican Pacific. Ciencias Marinas 24:211–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H, Cariquiry JD, Leyte-Morales GE, Cupul-Magana AL (2002) Effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Anti-El Niño event (1997–1999) on coral reefs of the western coast of Mexico. Coral Reefs 21:368–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Richmond RH (1985) Variations in the population biology of Pocillopora damicornis across the Pacific. Proc 5ft Int Coral Reef Symp 6:101–106

  • Richmond RH (1987) Energetic relationships and biogeographical differences among fecundity, growth and reproduction in the reef coral Pocillopora damicornis. Bull Mar Sci 41:594–604

    Google Scholar 

  • Richmond RH, Hunter CL (1990) Reproduction and recruitment of corals: comparisons among the Caribbean, the tropical Pacific, and the Red sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 60:185–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richmond RH, Jokiel PL (1984) Lunar periodicity in larva realize in the reef coral Pocillopora damicornis at Enewetak and Hawaii. Bull Mar Sci 34:280–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorokin YI (1995) Coral reef ecology. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stimson JS (1978) Mode and timing of reproduction in some common hermatypic corals of Hawaii and Enewetak. Mar Biol 48:173–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart JA, Black R (1985) Cycles of gametogenesis and planulation in the coral Pocillopora damicornis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 23:153–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szmant A (1986) Reproductive ecology of Caribbean reefs corals. Coral Reefs 5:43–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szmant A, Gassman NJ (1990) The effects of prolonged “bleaching” on the tissue biomass and reproduction of the reef coral Montastrea annularis. Coral Reefs 8:217–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szmant A, Reutter M, Riggs L (1985) Sexual reproduction of Favia fragum (Esper): lunar patterns of gametogenesis, embryogenesis and planulation in Puerto Rico. Bull Mar Sci 37:880–892

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanner JE (1996) Seasonality and lunar periodicity in the reproduction of pocilloporid corals. Coral Reefs 15:59–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Vizcaíno-Ochoa VE (2003) Biología reproductiva de tres species de corales formadores de arrecifes en Bahía Banderas, México. Ms. Thesis, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, p 74

  • Ward S (1992) Evidence for broadcast spawning as well as brooding in the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis. Mar Biol 112:641–646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward S (1995) The effect of damage on the growth, reproduction and storage of lipids in the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 187:193–206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC-IIO internal project No. 533 headed by ECI) and by the Universidad del Mar (project “Assessment of effects of El Niño 97–98 in the Mexican Pacific coral reefs” headed by LECA). The first author acknowledges receipt of a scholarship for master’s studies from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT, No. 188766). We thank the Huatulco Bays National Park authorities for the facilities provided during the survey and the staff and students of the Universidad del Mar (UMAR) and Laboratorio de Ecología y Biología del Desarrollo (IIO-UABC) for their support. Finally, we sincerely thank Anderson Mayfield to help improve the English of the manuscript and for his constructive criticism to improve its quality.

Author information

Author notes

  1. A. P. Rodríguez-Troncoso

    Present address: Centro Universitario de la Costa, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad No. 203. Pto. Vallarta, 48280, Jalisco, CP, Mexico

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Km 103 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, 22860, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

    A. P. Rodríguez-Troncoso, E. Carpizo-Ituarte & G. Chi-Barragán

  2. Universidad del Mar, Ciudad Universitaria, Distrito de San Pedro Pochutla, 70902, Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca, Mexico

    G. E. Leyte-Morales

  3. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Km 103 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, 22860, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

    O. Tapia-Vázquez

Authors
  1. A. P. Rodríguez-Troncoso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. Carpizo-Ituarte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. E. Leyte-Morales
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. Chi-Barragán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. O. Tapia-Vázquez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Carpizo-Ituarte.

Additional information

Communicated by R. H. Richmond.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rodríguez-Troncoso, A.P., Carpizo-Ituarte, E., Leyte-Morales, G.E. et al. Sexual reproduction of three coral species from the Mexican South Pacific. Mar Biol 158, 2673–2683 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1765-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1765-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation