Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reproduction and recruitment of scleractinian corals in a high-latitude coral community, Amakusa, southwestern Japan

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Reproduction and recruitment in high-latitude coral populations in Japan have been little studied. A comprehensive study of the reproduction and early life history was conducted on nine common scleractinian coral species in Amakusa, southwestern Japan (32°N) from 2001 to 2003 including; (1) fecundity (the proportion of colonies with mature eggs), (2) timing and synchrony of spawning, (3) initial larval settlement pattern, (4) recruitment, (5) post-settlement mortality. The fecundity was high (76.7–100%) in six of seven species examined in 2002 and 2003. Annual spawning of the seven species occurred from mid July to August in 2001–2003, when seawater temperature was at the annual maximum. Spawning was highly synchronised among conspecific colonies and species in 2002 and 2003, with five species spawning five to nine nights after the full moon and another two spawning around the new moon. Temporal patterns of larval settlement of three spawning species during the first 10 days after spawning were similar to those of other spawning species from low latitudes. The number of scleractinian recruits on settlement plates, deployed from July to October (the major recruitment period at the study site), was low (2 recruits/m2) for the three consecutive years. Post-settlement mortality of 1–1.5 month old spat of five species ranged between 88 and 100% over 3–10 months in the field, similar to the values reported for both high and low latitude species (>94–99%). Among the key stages examined, the low recruitment rate may be the most important step in limiting successful reproduction and recruitment of these high-latitude scleractinian populations. The low recruitment rate may be attributable to (1) the reduced influx of larval supply from other coral populations, which are smaller and more isolated at high-latitudes and (2) the longer precompetent larval phase of broadcast-spawning corals which results in an increased chance of larvae being dispersed away from parent populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Babcock RC (1984) Reproduction and distribution of two species of Goniastrea (Scleractinia) from the Great Barrier Reef Province. Coral Reefs 2:187–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Babcock RC (1985) Growth and mortality in juvenile corals (Goniastrea, Platygyra and Acropora): the first year. In: Proceedings of the 5th international coral reef congress, Tahiti, vol 4, pp 355–360

  • Babcock RC (1991) Comparative demography of three species of scleractinian corals using age- and size-dependent classifications. Ecol Monogr 61:225–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babcock RC, Heyward AJ (1986) Larval development of certain gamete-spawning scleractinian corals. Coral Reefs 5:111–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babcock R, Mundy C (1996) Coral recruitment: consequences of settlement choice for early growth and survivorship in two scleractinians. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 206:179–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babcock RC, Willis BL, Simpson CJ (1994) Mass spawning of corals on a high latitude coral reef. Coral Reefs 13:161–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babcock RC, Baird AH, Piromvaragorn S, Thomson DP, Willis BL (2003) Identification of scleractinian coral recruits from Indo-Pacific reefs. Zool Stud 42:211–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird AH (2001) The ecology of coral larvae: settlement patterns, habitat selection and the length of the larval phase. Phd Thesis, James Cook University

  • Baird AH, Babcock RC (2000) Morphological differences among three species of newly settled pocilloporid coral recruits. Coral Reefs 19:179–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baird AH, Marshall PA, Wolstenholme J (2000) Latitudinal variation in the reproduction of Acropora in the Coral Sea. In: Proceedings of the 9th international coral reef sympsium, Bali, vol 1, pp 385–389

  • Fairfull SJL, Harriott VJ (1999) Succession, space and coral recruitment in a subtropical fouling community. Mar Freshw Res 50:235–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glassom D, Zakai D, Chadwick-Furman NE (2004) Coral recruitment: a spatio-temporal analysis along the coastline of Eilat, northern Red Sea. Mar Biol 144:641–651

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goffredo S, Arnone S, Zaccanti F (2002) Sexual reproduction in the Mediterranean solitary coral Balanophyllia europaea (Scleractinia, Dendrophylliidae). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 229:83–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall VR, Hughes TP (1996) Reproductive strategies of modular organisms: comparative studies of reef-building corals. Ecology 77:950–963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harii S, Omori M, Yamakawa H, Koike Y (2001) Sexual reproduction and larval settlement of the zooxanthellate coral Alveopora japonica Eguchi at high latitudes. Coral Reefs 20:19–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harriott VJ (1992) Recruitment patterns of scleractinian corals in an isolated sub-tropical reef system. Coral Reefs 11:215–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harriott VJ (1999) Coral growth in subtropical eastern Australia. Coral Reefs 18:281–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harriott VJ, Banks SA (1995) Recruitment of scleractinian corals in the Solitary Islands Marine Reserve, a high-latitude coral-dominated community in Eastern Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 123:155–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harriott VJ, Banks SA (2002) Latitudinal variation in coral communities in eastern Australia: a qualitative biophysical model of factors regulating coral reefs. Coral Reefs 21:83–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Harriott VJ, Simpson CJ (1997) Coral recruitment in Western Australia. In: Proceedings of the 8th international coral reef symposium, Panama, vol 2, pp 1191–1196

  • Harrison PL, Wallace CC (1990) Reproduction, dispersal and recruitment of scleractinian corals. In: Dubinsky Z (ed) Ecosystems of the world, vol 25, coral reef ecosystems. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 133–207

  • Harvell CD, Grosberg RK (1988) The timing of sexual maturity in clonal animals. Ecology 69:1855–1864

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heyward A, Yamazato K, Yeemin T, Minei M (1987) Sexual reproduction of corals in Okinawa. Galaxea 6:331–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Baird AH, Dinsdale EA, Moltschaniwskyj NA, Pratchett MS, Tanner JE, Willis BL (2000) Supply-side ecology works both ways: the link between benthic adults, fecundity, and larval recruits. Ecology 81:2241–2249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Baird AH, Dinsdale EA, Harriott VJ, Moltschaniwskyj NA, Pratchett MS, Tanner JE, Willis BL (2002) Detecting regional variation using meta-analysis and large-scale sampling: latitudinal patterns in recruitment. Ecology 83:436–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapela W, Lasker HR (1999) Size-dependent reproduction in the Caribbean gorgonian Pseudoplexaura porosa. Mar Biol 135:107–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleypas JA, McManus JW, Menez LAB (1999) Environmental limits to coral reef development: where do we draw the line? Am Zool 39:146–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller K, Mundy C (2003) Rapid settlement in broadcast spawning corals: implications for larval dispersal. Coral Reefs 22:99–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishihira M, Veron JEN (1995) Hermatypic corals of Japan (in Japanese). Kaiyusha Publishers, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Nozawa Y, Harrison PL (2002) Larval settlement patterns, dispersal potential, and the effect of temperature on settlement of larvae of the reef coral, Platygyra daedalea, from the Great Barrier Reef. In: Proceedings of the 9th international coral reef symposium, Bali, vol 1, pp 409–415

  • Nozawa Y, Harrison PL (2005) Temporal settlement patterns of larvae of the broadcast spawning reef coral Favites chinensis and the broadcast spawning and brooding reef coral Goniastrea aspera from Okinawa, Japan. Coral Reefs 24:274–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakai K (1997) Gametogenesis, spawning, and planula brooding by the reef coral Goniastrea aspera (Scleractinia) in Okinawa, Japan. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 151:67–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz JA, Krupp DA, Weis VM (1999) Late larval development and onset of symbiosis in the scleractinian coral Fungia scutaria. Biol Bull 196:70–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shlesinger Y, Loya Y (1985) Coral community reproductive patterns: Red Sea versus the Great Barrier Reef. Science 228:1333–1335

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shlesinger Y, Loya Y (1991) Larval development and survivorship in the corals Favia favus and Platygyra lamellina. Hydrobiologia 216/217:101–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shlesinger Y, Goulet TL, Loya Y (1998) Reproductive patterns of scleractinian corals in the northern Red Sea. Mar Biol 132:691–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith SR (1992) Patterns of coral recruitment and post-settlement mortality on Bermuda’s reefs: comparisons to Caribbean and Pacific reefs. Am Zool 32:663–673

    Google Scholar 

  • Stehli FG, Wells JW (1971) Diversity and age patterns in hermatypic corals. Syst Zool 20:115–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thamrin (2001) Reproductive biology of a scleractinian coral Alveopora japonica Eguchi in Amakusa, South-western Japan. PhD dissertation, Kyushu University

  • Thamrin, Nojima S, Tokeshi M (2001) Experimental analysis of planula release in a scleractinian coral Alveopora japonica. Galaxea. JCRS 3:25–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Tioho H, Tokeshi M, Nojima S (2001) Experimental analysis of recruitment in a scleractinian coral at high latitude. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 213:79–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Woesik R (1995) Coral communities at high latitude are not pseudopopulations: evidence of spawning at 32°N, Japan. Coral Reefs 14:119–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veron JEN (1974) Southern geographic limits to the distribution of Great Barrier Reef hermatypic corals. In: Proceedings of the 2nd international coral reef symposium, vol 2, pp 465–473

  • Veron JEN (1992) Hermatypic corals of Japan. Australian Inst Mar Sci Monogr Ser 9, Townsville

  • Veron JEN (1995) Corals in space and time: the biogeography and evolution of the Scleractinia. UNSW Press, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  • Veron JEN (2000) Corals of the World. Aust Inst Mar Sci & CRR Qld Pty Ltd, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward S, Harrison P (2000) Changes in gametogenesis and fecundity of acroporid corals that were exposed to elevated nitrogen and phosphorus during the ENCORE experiment. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 246:179–221

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wells JW (1957) Coral reefs. Mem Geol Soc Am 67:609–631

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JR (1998) Reproduction and larval ecology of broadcast spawning corals at the Solitary Islands, eastern Australia. PhD dissertation, Southern Cross University

  • Wilson JR, Harrison PL (1997) Sexual reproduction in high latitude coral communities at the Solitary Islands, eastern Australia. In: Proceedings of the 8th international coral reef symposium, vol 1, pp 533–538

  • Wilson JR, Harrison PL (1998) Settlement-competency periods of larvae of three species of scleractinian corals. Mar Biol 131:339–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JR, Harrison PL (2003) Spawning patterns of scleractinian corals at the Solitary Islands—a high latitude coral community in eastern Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 260:115–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeemin T (1991) Ecological studies of scleractinian coral communities above the northern limit of coral reef development in the western Pacific. PhD dissertation, Kyushu University

  • Yonge CM (1940) The biology of reef-building corals. Sci Rep Great Barrier Reef Exped 1:353–391

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Mr K. Tanaka for the collection of A. s. larvae and Mr H. Tomikawa for the provision of water temperature data. We also thank Dr A. Baird, Dr J. Wilson and two anonymous reviewers for reviewing a manuscript and productive comments. Y. N. was supported by a Research Fellowship for Young Scientists and M. T. and S. N. by Grants-in-Aid for scientific research (Nos. 14255013 and 11480150, respectively), administered by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The experiments performed here complied with the current laws of Japan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyushu University, Tomioka, Reihoku-Amakusa, 863-2507, Kumamoto, Japan

    Yoko Nozawa, Mutsunori Tokeshi & Satoshi Nojima

Authors
  1. Yoko Nozawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mutsunori Tokeshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Satoshi Nojima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoko Nozawa.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nozawa, Y., Tokeshi, M. & Nojima, S. Reproduction and recruitment of scleractinian corals in a high-latitude coral community, Amakusa, southwestern Japan. Mar Biol 149, 1047–1058 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0285-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0285-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation