New moon spawning of Acropora divaricata in the Sakishima Islands, Japan

Abstract

Many species of Acropora corals spawn simultaneously around the full moon in early summer (May to June in Japan). Nonetheless, there are some species that delay from this simultaneous spawning and spawn in midsummer (August in Japan). Among them, we focused on Acropora divaricata and investigated the oocyte maturation period in the field and directly observed spawning in tanks. The maturation period peaked in late summer, and all the colonies we directly observed over the three years (36 colonies in total) spawned within two days before or after the new moon. Among the more than several dozen species of Acropora corals reported so far, no species is known to spawn associated with the new moon in tropical and subtropical regions. The reason for this unique spawning timing is unknown, but it is clear that diverse spawning phenology exists within Acropora corals.

Corals

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