Journal article
Onset of sexual maturity of sexually propagated and wild colonies of the massive coral Favites abdita in northwestern Philippines
Invertebrate Reproduction and Development, Vol.65(3), pp.201-209
2021
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Source: InCites
Abstract
Despite decades of research, many aspects of coral reproductive biology, such as colony size and age at the onset of sexual maturity remain poorly studied. In this study, wild colonies of different size classes and colonies of a known age of the massive scleractinian Favites abdita were examined for the presence or absence of mature oocytes to determine size and age at the onset of maturity. Fecundity for each size class was also determined for wild colonies. Both sexually propagated and wild F. abdita colonies that are 1.8 cm in diameter were found to be sexually mature. Colonies of size class A (0.1-4.0 cm maximum diameter) had lower mean oocyte counts but greater mean oocyte geometric mean diameter per polyp (44 ± 6.08, 340.38 ± 7.68 µm; mean ± SE) compared to colonies of classes B (4.1-8.0 cm) and C (>8.1 cm) (469 ± 62.41, 283.96 ± 6.94 µm; 278 ± 57.15, 317.57 ± 9.18 µm, respectively). Results of this study bring into question the widely applied operational definition of juveniles being colonies ≤4.0 cm diameter and suggest that even quite small colonies can play a role in contributing to the natural larval pool on reefs than previously thought.
Details
- Title
- Onset of sexual maturity of sexually propagated and wild colonies of the massive coral Favites abdita in northwestern Philippines
- Creators
- Katya G Bonilla - University of PhilippinesJames R Guest - Newcastle University (Newcastle Upon Tyne)Dexter W dela Cruz - Southern Cross UniversityMaria Vanessa Baria-Rodriguez - University of Philippines
- Publication Details
- Invertebrate Reproduction and Development, Vol.65(3), pp.201-209
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Grant note
- This research was supported by the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute’s In-house project, the University of the Philippines – Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs’ Balik Ph.D. project (OVPAA-BPhD-2018-02), Department of Science and Technology – ASTHRDP Thesis Grant, and the Global Environment Facility/World Bank funded Coral Reef Targeted Research for Capacity Building and Management program (Grant number: R-154-000-432-112).
- Identifiers
- 991012948498802368
- Copyright
- © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
- Academic Unit
- Marine Ecology Research Centre; Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article