Abstract
Photosynthetic, growth, and reproductive characters for colonies of the massive coral Montastraea faveolata were measured at 3-m-depth and 18-m-depth populations in the Florida Keys in 1993 to investigate reproductive behavior across depth. I tested the hypothesis that reproductive traits would exhibit depth-related decreases similar to those documented for photosynthetically derived energy availability and growth rate. Colonies at the 18 m site had significantly reduced access to photosynthetically derived energy compared to colonies at 3 m depth. Linear skeletal extension rates were also reduced at the deep site (mean±SE; 3 m: 6.13 mm year−1±0.35; 18 m: 3.44 mm year−1±0.36; P<0.001). Contrary to expectations, depth did not affect most reproductive characters. Reproductive allocation, the amount of lipid invested in reproduction, was similar between depths (3 m: 3.74 mg lipid cm−2±0.55; 18 m: 3.88 mg lipid cm−2±0.62; P<0.8). Reproductive effort, the proportion of total lipid invested in reproduction, was also similar between sites (3 m: 41.4%±4.7; 18 m: 47.3%±7.12; P<0.163). Colonies within a depth did differ significantly in many gametic characteristics including eggs per gonad, total egg area, spermary area, total gonad area, and male allocation (the proportion of total gonad area invested in spermary tissue), but only total egg area differed between depths, and this was greater at 18 m (3 m: 55.63 μm2×104±4.76; 18 m: 60.51 μm2×104±3.41; P<0.035). Colonies at the two sites had similar polyp fecundity (egg production per polyp); however, a difference in polyp density between sites (3 m: 5.56 polyps cm−2±0.21; 18 m: 4.87 polyps cm−2±0.15; P<0.028) resulted in a significant reduction in area fecundity (egg production per square centimeter) at the 18 m site (3 m: 554 eggs cm−2±27.9; 18 m: 422 eggs cm−2±31.0; P<0.045). Thus, there was a depth-related fecundity cost arising from a change in colony architecture (i.e. polyp spacing) rather than a direct effect of depth on the number of eggs produced per polyp. Egg production per gonad was positively correlated between 1993 and 1994 (r=0.540, P<0.05), indicating that other reproductive characteristics may also be stable between years.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdel-Salam HA, Porter JW (1988) Physiological effects of sediment rejection on photosynthesis and respiration in three Caribbean reef corals. Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:285–292
Anthony KRN, Fabricius KE (2000) Shifting roles of autotrophy and heterotrophy in coral energetics under varying turbidity. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 252 (2):221–253
Arai T, Kato M, Heyward A, Ikeda Y, Iizuka T, Maryuyama T (1993) Lipid composition of positively buoyant eggs of reef-building corals. Coral Reefs 12:71–75
Barszcz CA, Yevich PP (1975) The use of Helly's fixative for marine invertebrate histopathology. Comp Pathol Bull 7:4
Battey JF, Porter JW (1988) Photoadaptation as a whole organisms response in Montastrea annularis. Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 3:79–87
Berttram DF, Strathmann RR (1998) Effects of maternal and larval nutrition on growth and form of planktotrophic larvae. Ecology 79 (1):315–327
Bosscher H (1992) Growth potential of coral reefs and carbonate platforms. PhD dissertation, University of Amsterdam
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive technique for the quantification of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254
Brakel WH (1983) Depth-related changes in the colony form of the reef coral Porites astreoides. In: Reaka ML (ed) The ecology of deep and shallow coral reefs, vol 1. (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Symposium series for undersea research) National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C., pp 21–26
Chalker BE (1981) Simulating light-saturation curves for photosynthesis and calcification by reef building corals. Mar Biol 63:135–141
Chornesky EA, Peters EC (1987) Sexual reproduction and colony growth in the scleractinian coral Porites astreoides. Biol Bull 172:161–177
Coll JC, Bowden BF, Meehan GV, Konig GM, Carroll AR, Tapiolas DM, Aliño PM, Heaton A, De Nys R, Leone PA, Maida M, Acerta TL, Willis RH, Babcock RC, Willis BL, Florian Z, Clayton MN, Miller RL (1994) Chemical aspects of mass spawning in corals I. Sperm-attractant molecules in the eggs of the scleractinian coral Montipora digitata. Mar Biol 118:177–182
Davies PS (1977) Carbon budgets and vertical zonation of Atlantic reef corals. Proc 3rd Int Coral Reef Symp, pp 392–396
Davies PS (1980) Respiration in some Atlantic reef corals in relation to vertical distribution and growth form. Biol Bull 158:187–194
Dustan P (1979) Distribution of zooxanthellae and photosynthetic chloroplast pigments of the reef-building coral Montastrea annularis (Ellis and Solander) in relation to depth on a West Indian coral reef. Bull Mar Sci 29:79–95
Edmunds PJ, Davies PS (1986) An energy budget for Porites porites (Scleractinia). Mar Biol 92:339–347
Fan TY, Dai CF (1999) Reproductive plasticity in the reef coral Echinopora lamellosa. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 190:297–301
Gattuso J-P, Yellowlees D, Lesser M (1993) Depth- and light-dependent variation of carbon partitioning and utilization in the zooxanthellate scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 92:267–276
Gittings SR, Boland GS, Deslarzes KJP, Combs CL, Holland BS, Bright TJ (1992) Mass spawning and reproductive viability of reef corals at the East Flower Garden Bank, northwest Gulf of Mexico. Bull Mar Sci 51 (3):420–428
Gleason DF, Wellington GM (1993) Ultraviolet radiation and coral bleaching. Nature 365:836–838
Gleason DF, Wellington GM (1995) Variation in UVB sensitivity of planula larvae of the coral Agaricia agaricites along a depth gradient. Mar Biol 123:693–703
Graus RR, Macintyre IG (1982) Variation in growth form of the coral Montastrea annularis (Ellis and Solander): a quantitative evaluation of growth response to light using computer simulation. Smithson Contrib Mar Sci 12:441–459
Hall VR, Hughes TP (1996) Reproductive strategies of modular organisms: comparative studies of reef-building corals. Ecology 77 (3):950–963
Harland AD, Spencer Davies P, Fixter LM (1992) Lipid content of some Caribbean corals in relation to depth and light. Mar Biol 113:357–361
Harrison PL, Wallace CC (1990) Reproduction, dispersal and recruitment of scleractinian corals. In: Dubinsky Z (ed) Ecosystems of the world, vol 25. Coral reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 133–207
Harrison PL, Babcock RC, Bull GD, Oliver JK, Wallis CC, Willis BL (1984) Mass spawning in tropical reef coral. Science 223:1186–1189
Hubbard DK, Scaturo D (1985) Growth rates of seven species of scleractinian corals from Cane Bay and Salt River, St. Croix, USVI. Bull Mar Sci 36 (2):325–338
Hudson JH (1981) Growth rates of Montastrea annularis: a record of environmental change in the Key Largo Coral Reef Marine Sanctuary, Florida. Bull Mar Sci 31 (2):444–459
Hudson JH, Hanson JK, Halley RB, Kindinger JK (1994) Environmental implications of growth rate changes in Montastrea annularis: Biscayne Bay National Park, Florida. Bull Mar Sci 54 (3):647–669
Hughes DJ (1989) Variation in reproductive strategy among clones of the bryozoan Celleporella hyalina. Ecol Monogr 59 (4):387–403
Hughes TP, Jackson JBC (1985) Population dynamics and life histories of foliaceous corals. Ecol Monogr 55 (2):141–166
Hughes TP, Tanner JE (2000) Recruitment failure, life histories and long-term decline of Caribbean reef corals. Ecology 81 (8):2250–2263
Jeffrey SW, Humphrey G (1975) New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a,b,c 1 and c 2 in higher plants, algae and natural populations. Biochem Physiol Pflanzen 167:191–194
Knowlton N, Wiel E, Weight LA, Guzmán HM (1992) Sibling species in Montastrea annularis, coral bleaching and the coral climate record. Science 255:330–332
Kojis BL, Quinn NJ (1984) Seasonal and depth variation in fecundity of Acropora palifera at two reefs in Papua New Guinea. Coral Reefs 3:165–172
Latyshev NA, Naumenko NY, Svetashev VI, Latypov YY (1991) Fatty-acids of reef-building corals. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 76 (3):295–301
Lesser MP, Mazel C, Phinney D, Yentch CS (2000) Light absorption and utilization by colonies of the conspecific hermatypic corals Montastraea faveolata and Montastraea cavernosa. Limnol Oceanogr 45 (1):76–86
Levitan DR, Petersen C (1995) Sperm limitation in the sea. Trends Ecol Evol 10:228–231
Marsh JA (1970) Primary productivity of reef-building calcareous algae. Ecology 51:255–263
McCloskey LR, Muscatine L (1984) Production and respiration in the Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata as a function of depth. Proc R Soc Lond B 222:215–230
Meesters EH, Kardinnal E, Keetman M, de Vries M, Bak RPM (2001) Colony size-frequency distributions of scleractinian coral populations: spatial and interspecific variation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 209:43–54
Patton JS, Battey JF, Rigler MW, Porter JW, Black CC, Burris JE (1983) A comparison of the metabolism of bicarbonate 14C and acetate 1-14C and the variability of species lipid composition in reef corals. Mar Biol 75:121–130
Reznick DN (1985) Cost of reproduction: an evaluation of the empirical evidence. Oikos 44:257–267
Richmond RH (1987) Energetic relationship and biogeographical differences among fecundity, growth and reproduction in the reef coral Pocillopora damicornis. Bull Mar Sci 41 (2):594–604
Rinkevich B (1989) The contribution of photosynthetic products to coral reproduction. Mar Biol 101:259–263
Rinkevich B (1996) Do reproduction and regeneration in damaged corals compete for energy allocation? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 143:297–302
Rinkevich B, Loya Y (1987) Variability in the pattern of sexual reproduction of the coral Stylophora pistillata at Eilat, Red Sea: a long term study. Biol Bull 173:335–344
Sánchez JA, Alvarado EM, Gil MF, Charry H, Arena OL, Chasqui LH, García RP (1999) Synchronous mass spawning of Montastraea annularis and (Ellis & Solander) and Montastraea cavernosa (Ellis & Solander) (Faviidae:Scleractinia) at Rosario Islands, Caribbean coast of Colombia. Bull Mar Sci 65 (3):873–879
Sheppard CRC (1982) Coral populations on reef slopes and their major controls. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 7:83–115
Shick JM, Lesser MP, Dunlap WC, Stochaj WR, Chalker BE, Won JW (1995) Depth dependent responses to solar ultraviolet-radiation and oxidative stress in the zooxanthellate coral Acropora microphthalma. Mar Biol 122:41–51
Sier CJS, Olive PJW (1994) Reproduction and reproductive variability in the coral Pocillopora verrucosa from the Republic of Maldives. Mar Biol 118:713–722
Soong K, Lang JC (1992) Reproductive integration in reef corals. Biol Bull 183:418–431
Stearns SC (1992) The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Stimson JS (1978) Mode and timing of reproduction in some common hermatypic corals of Hawaii and Enewetak. Mar Biol 48:173–184
Szmant AM (1986) Reproductive ecology of Caribbean reef corals. Coral Reefs 5:43–53
Szmant AM (1991) Sexual reproduction by the Caribbean reef corals Montastrea annularis and M. cavernosa. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 71:13–25
Szmant AM, Weil E, Miller MW, Colon DE (1997) Hybridization within the species complex of the scleractinian coral Montastraea annularis. Mar Biol 129:561–572
Taylor D (1977) Intra-colonial transport of organic compounds and calcium in some Atlantic reef corals. Proc 3rd Int Coral Reef Symp 1:431–436
Tomascik T, Sander S (1987) Effects of eutrophication on reef-building corals III. Reproduction of the reef-building coral Porites porites. Mar Biol 94:77–94
Van Veghel MLJ, Kahmann MEH (1994) Reproductive characteristics of the polymorphic Caribbean reef-building coral Montastrea annularis II. Fecundity and colony structure. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 109:221–227
Wallace CC (1985) Reproduction, recruitment and fragmentation in nine sympatric species of the coral genus Acropora. Mar Biol 88:217–233
Ward S (1995) Two patterns of energy allocation for growth, reproduction and lipid storage in the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis. Coral Reefs 14:87–90
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 (2):179–221
West JM, Harvell CD, Walls AM (1993) Morphological plasticity in a gorgonian coral (Briarium asbestinum) over a depth cline. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 94:61–69
Wiel E, Knowlton N (1994) A multi-character analysis of the Caribbean coral Montastrea annularis (Ellis and Solander, 1786) and its two sibling species M. faveolata (Ellis and Solander, 1786) and M. franksii (Gregory, 1895). Bull Mar Sci 55 (1):151–175
Wilkinson L (1992) SYSTAT for Windows: Statistics, version 5 edn. SYSTAT, Inc., Evanston, Ill.
Zar JH (1984) Biostatistical analysis, 2nd edn. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Acknowledgements
Dr. G. Wellington and Dr. O. Hoegh-Guldberg provided valuable criticisms of this manuscript. J.C. Villinski, M. Hill, and T. Wilcox were valued friends and dive partners. G. Wellington and D. Gleason provided unpublished irradiance data. Sigma Xi, the University of Houston Coastal Center, and the University of Houston Department of Biology provided funds for this research. This is publication number 24 from the Key Largo Marine Research Station.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by P. W. Sammarco, Chauvin
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Villinski, J.T. Depth-independent reproductive characteristics for the Caribbean reef-building coral Montastraea faveolata . Marine Biology 142, 1043–1053 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-002-0997-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-002-0997-0