Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, National Institute of Oceanography, Tel-Shikmona, P.O. Box 8030, Haifa, 31080, Israel.
Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2018 Apr 4;8(1):5668. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23274-w.
Larval release by brooding corals is often assumed to display lunar periodicity. Here, we show that larval release of individual Stylophora pistillata colonies does not comply with the assumed tight entrainment by the lunar cycle, and can better be classified as a circatrigintan pattern. The colonies exhibited three distinct reproductive patterns, characterized by short intervals, long intervals and no periodicity between reproductive peaks, respectively. Cross correlation between the lunar cycle and larval release of the periodic colonies revealed an approximately 30-day periodicity with a variable lag of 5 to 10 days after full moon. The observed variability indicates that the lunar cycle does not provide a strict zeitgeber. Other factors such as water temperature and solar radiation did not correlate significantly with the larval release. The circatrigintan patterns displayed by S. pistillata supports the plasticity of corals and sheds new light on discussions on the fecundity of brooding coral species.
珊瑚的幼虫释放通常被认为具有月周期节律性。在这里，我们表明，个体鹿角杯形珊瑚（Stylophora pistillata）群体的幼虫释放并不符合与月球周期的紧密关联，而可以更好地归类为 circatrigintan 模式。这些珊瑚表现出三种不同的繁殖模式，分别以短间隔、长间隔和繁殖高峰期之间无周期性为特征。对周期性群体的幼虫释放与月球周期的交叉相关分析显示，大约存在 30 天的周期性，满月后有 5 到 10 天的可变滞后。观察到的可变性表明，月球周期并不是严格的时间信号。其他因素，如水温、太阳辐射与幼虫释放无显著相关性。鹿角杯形珊瑚表现出的 circatrigintan 模式支持珊瑚的可塑性，并为关于抚育珊瑚物种生殖力的讨论提供了新的视角。
