Ocean biodiversity informatics’: a new era in marine biology research and management

Field observations of spawning behavior of scleractinian corals around Akajima Island were carried out from late spring to summer in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Investigations focused on the degree of spawning synchrony among Acropora spp. and its relation to fluctuations in environmental factors. Eighty-five species, representing 27 genera and 10 families of scleractinian corals, were observed to spawn from May to early September during the 3 years. Spawning of most Acropora spp. took place synchronously but timing varied between the 3rd night before to the 7th night after full moon in May and/or June. Non-Acropora species spawned mainly from the 2nd to the 8th night after full moon from June to August. The relationship between date of spawning and lunar phase was not clear, but other environmental stimul~ such as marked changes of temperature, salinity and current velocity might trigger mass synchronous spawning among the Acropora.