Acropora digitifera coral synchronized sprawling

Acropora digitifera coral synchronized sprawling.

Full moon nights in summer are very special for corals. At 10 p.m., when water is around 24°C (75°F), Acropora digitifera corals in the southernmost part of Japan start to release their eggs and sperm, known as gametes, exactly at the same time in a process called synchronized spawning.

Since corals cannot move to find a partner, they let their reproductive cells free float in the ocean, hoping for an encounter. Understanding how the resulting newborn coral larvae migrate and settle is crucial to protect our beautiful coral reef.

Date:

10 December 2015

Creator:

letizia-diamante

Credit:

Dr Chuya Shinzato

Copyright OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 沖縄科学技術大学院大学). Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

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Research

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