Coral Sexual Reproduction & Commercial Applications

1. TECHNICAL SUMMARY
SEXUAL CORAL REPRODUCTION
FOR COMMERCIAL INTERNATIONAL MARINE
AQUARIA MARKETS
JULY 2018

2. Corals may reproduce sexually but they also have a number of means of asexual propagation. This latter
characteristic is most often exploited in the culturing of corals in countries of origin.
Fragments of coral are cut from live donor colonies and the fragments are then fixed by wire or glue to a substrate
(frequently blocks of limestone or concrete) and are then placed in the marine environment, either suspended from
lines or contained in nursery tables units on the seabed. Specimens are then grown on to marketable size.

3. Clearly, the methods describe above do not meet the definition of ‘captive bred’ in Resolution Conf.10.16
(Rev.) – not only are the specimens usually the product of asexual, rather than sexual, reproduction but
the donor colonies are wild, the specimens are not maintained in a closed environment and so on. In many
respects, the means of production are more akin to the artificial propagation of plants but the Convention reserves that
term strictly for plants alone and, in any case, the definition of that term in Resolution Conf. 11.11 also requires that
specimens are cultivated under ‘controlled conditions’. Ranching may be a more appropriate label but even then, the
current definition requires that specimens taken from the wild are reared in a ‘controlled environment’. With the exception
of corals being propagated by aquarists (usually in importing countries) rearing does not often appear to take place in
controlled environments (as defined in Resolution Conf.10.16 (Rev.).

4. CORAL REPRODUCTION MODES

5. CORAL SEXUAL REPRODUCTION CYCLE

6. CORAL SEXUAL REPRODUCTION CYCLE

7. CORAL SEXUAL REPRODUCTION CYCLE
Worldwide, broadcast spawning corals release gametes into the oceans with extraordinarily
accurate timing. While the date of spawning is set by the lunar cycle, the hour/minute of
spawning is set by the solar cycle. Darvel Bay, Semporna & SIMCA (Sugud Islands Marine
Conservation Area), Beluran District spawn every July / August annually.

8. CORAL LARVAE COLLECTION TECHNIQUES?

9. CORAL LARVAE GROW-OUT TECHNIQUES?

10. Settlement behavior of Acropora palmata planulae: Effects
of biofilm age and crustose coralline algal cover
P.M. Erwin, B. Song, A.M. Szmant
UNC Wilmington, Center for Marine Science, 5600 Marvin K. Moss Ln, Wilmington, NC 28409, USA
Larval settlement varied among tiles by conditioning time (P<0.001), with low settlement (11%) on
unconditioned tiles and high settlement (72-87%) on tiles conditioned for 2, 8 and 9 weeks. Tile
surface texture and orientation also affected settlement (P<0.001). Larvae of A. palmata preferred the
undersides of tiles as conditioned in the field (78% of total settlement), compared to upper surfaces
(8%) or Petri dish surfaces (14%). CCA cover increased with conditioning time (P<0.001) and differed
by tile orientation (P<0.005), revealing a positive correlation between settlement and CCA cover on tile
bottoms, but not tile tops.
CORAL LARVAE SETTLEMENT CHARACTERISTICS

11. Utility of artificial settlement collector using crustose coralline
algae for sampling abalone larvae in southwestern Japan.
Setuo KIYOMOTO, Shouichi WATANABE, Tomosuke SUENAGA,Hiroki YAMANAKA, Akihiko FUJII,
Yuichi KOSHIISHI, and Toyomitsu HORII
Abstract To assess the utility of artificial settlement collectors in southwestern Japan, collecting trials for
abalone were carried out at Hirado and Iki, northwestern Kyushu, from Oct. 2001 to Feb. 2002 using
settlement plates with different algal species. Corrugated polyvinyl chloride plates were conditioned as
settlement plates with four treatments: high cover(30-80%)with crustose coralline algae(H-CCA), low cover(5-
40%) with crustose coralline algae(L-CCA), cover with Myrionema sp.(MY), and no conditioning(NC). Most of
the postlarvae(440 to 1250ｵm)were collected from mid November to early December. The largest number of
postlarvae were collected by H-CCA plates, followed by L-CCA and MY plates, and no postlarvae was collected
by NC plates. These results suggested that the H-CCA conditioning was the most effective among the four
treatments, and some conditioning of settlement collectors is necessary to optimize settlement of abalone
larvae.

12. CORAL LARVAE COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

13. CORAL LARVAE SETTLEMENT CHARACTERISTICS

14. CORAL LARVAE SETTLEMENT CHARACTERISTICS

15. CORAL LARVAE REEF COLLECTION SYSTEM

16. CORAL LARVAE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

17. CAPTIVE SEXUAL CORAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

18. CAPTIVE SEXUAL CORAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

19. CAPTIVE SEXUAL CORAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

20. CAPTIVE SEXUAL CORAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS