College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia; AIMS@JCU, Australian Institute of Marine Science and James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2017 Jan 15;114(1):505-514. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.10.011. Epub 2016 Oct 26.
Successful reproduction and larval dispersal are important for the persistence of marine invertebrate populations, and these early life history processes can be sensitive to marine pollution. Coal is emerging as a contaminant of interest due to the proximity of ports and shipping lanes to coral reefs. To assess the potential hazard of this contaminant, gametes, newly developed embryos, larvae and juveniles of the coral Acropora tenuis were exposed to a range of coal leachate, suspended coal, and coal smothering treatments. Fertilisation was the most sensitive reproductive process tested. Embryo survivorship decreased with increasing suspended coal concentrations and exposure duration, effects on larval settlement varied between treatments, while effects on juvenile survivorship were minimal. Leachate exposures had negligible effects on fertilisation and larval settlement. These results indicate that coral recruitment could be affected by spills that produce plumes of suspended coal particles which interact with gametes and embryos soon after spawning.
成功的繁殖和幼虫扩散对于海洋无脊椎动物种群的持续存在至关重要，而这些早期生活史过程可能对海洋污染敏感。由于港口和航道靠近珊瑚礁，煤炭作为一种污染物正受到关注。为了评估这种污染物的潜在危害，将珊瑚 Acropora tenuis 的配子、新发育的胚胎、幼虫和幼体暴露于一系列煤浸出物、悬浮煤和煤窒息处理中。受精是测试的最敏感的生殖过程。胚胎存活率随悬浮煤浓度和暴露时间的增加而降低，处理之间对幼虫定殖的影响不同，而对幼体存活率的影响则最小。浸出液暴露对受精和幼虫定殖几乎没有影响。这些结果表明，珊瑚的补充可能会受到溢油的影响，溢油会产生悬浮煤颗粒的羽流，这些颗粒在产卵后不久就会与配子和胚胎相互作用。
