Eusmilia spawning

Gerard J. Geertjes g.j.geertjes at biol.rug.nl
Mon Oct 29 06:48:48 EST 2001


Hello Greg & coral list.

The little spheres that are released by Eusmilia fastigiata are actually
zygotes in very early stages of development (16-32 cells). At least part of
them (if not all) are released from the tips of the tentacles. Aspects of E.
fastigiata reproduction and development of the released spherical bodies are
desribed in:

de Graaf, M., G. J. Geertjes, and J. J. Videler, 1999: Observations on
spawning of scleractinian corals and other invertebrates on the reefs of
Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean). Bulletin of Marine Science
64:189-194.

Cheers,

Gerard Geertjes

University of Groningen
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies
Department of Marine Biology
Kerklaan 30
P.O.Box 14
9750 AA HAREN
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 50 363 2226
Fax: +31 (0) 50 363 2261
E-mail: g.j.geertjes at biol.rug.nl
http://www.biol.rug.nl/marbio/staff/i-staff.htm


----- Original Message -----
From: Boland, Gregory <Gregory.Boland at mms.gov>
To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 9:37 PM
Subject: Eusmilia spawning


> Coral List,
>
> This is in response to Dirk Peterson's request for information on Eusmilia
> fastigiata spawning.  I thought it would be useful to post these images to
> the whole list even though David sounds like he is concentrating on the
> spawning behavior of this species for his graduate work.   I indirectly
> acquired this image from a tourist/diver many years back when I was
involved
> with the team that documented the first in situ mass spawning event in the
> Atlantic/Gulf /Caribbean in 1991 and the first Colpophyllia natans
spawning
> in 1994.  This is an incredible image and I have always been puzzled about
> what is exactly going on.  It was taken in French Cay of the Turks and
> Caicos Islands (not sure which island exactly) on August 28, 1994 at about
9
> PM.  The full moon for August, 1994 was on the 21st at 23:48 so the image
> was taken 7 evenings after the full moon.
>
> The gametes appear to be individual eggs, much smaller than gamete bundles
> of Montastrea or Diploria species.  I don't know if Eusmilia is dioecious.
> The strangest aspect is that the gametes or "eggs" are accumulated inside
> the expanded polyp tentacles.  One would speculate that the eggs might be
> released through the end of the tentacles, but this seems very odd.  They
> are getting out from somewhere as there are many gametes visible in the
> surrounding water.  Could be the gametes in the tentacles are trapped and
> should have been retained in the gastrovascular cavity for release through
> the mouth as other taxa do.
>
> The close-ups are from the same image, only cropped and scanned at the
> highest resolution I could squeeze our of my Coolscan III.
>
> It is my understanding the photographers have no concerns about photo
credit
> but here are their names anyway, as I have always been  a stickler for
photo
> credit , particularly for underwater images.
>
> Photos by: Anne Owen and David Wheeler, 1994
>
> Greg Boland
> Biological Oceanographer
> Minerals Management Service
>
> You can use the URL below to view the images:
>
> http://www.coral.noaa.gov/coral_list/eusmilia.html
> ~~~~~~~
> For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the
> digests, please visit www.coral.noaa.gov, click on Popular on the
> menu bar, then click on Coral-List Listserver.
>

~~~~~~~
For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the
digests, please visit www.coral.noaa.gov, click on Popular on the
menu bar, then click on Coral-List Listserver.



More information about the Coral-list-old mailing list