[Coral-List] Strong September spawning of Montastraea annularis in the USVI

[Ilsa B Kuffner]

Our group monitored the September coral spawning on the island of St. 
John, U.S. Virgin Islands.  The Montastraea spp. spawning at Tektite Reef 
on the 7th night after the full moon was quite spectacular.  This is 
encouraging, since this reef experienced marked mortality from the 2005 
bleaching/disease event (Miller et al., 2009). Here is a summary of our 
observations: 

Acropora palmata
Hawksnest Bay, St. John, USVI
September 6 ? 8, 2009 (2 to 4 days after full moon) ? observations 
conducted from 2 to 3 hours after sunset each night, but no spawning was 
observed.
September 9, 2009 (5 days after full moon) ? two colonies started setting 
2 hours and 15 minutes after sunset (8:45 PM local time), and released 15 
? 30 minutes later (finished by 9:30 PM).  We estimate this was < 1% of 
the population on this reef.  No fertilization was evident when these two 
colonies were crossed (likely clone-mates).
September 10, 2009 (6 days after full moon) ? four colonies started 
setting 2 hours and 15 minutes after sunset (8:45 PM local time), and 
released 15 ? 30 minutes later (finished by 9:30 PM).  We estimate this 
was < 1% of the population on this reef.  No fertilization was evident 
when the gametes of these four colonies were combined.
(Spawning was not monitored after September 10 for this species)

Montastraea annularis
Tektite Reef, St. John, USVI
September 9, 2009 ? observations conducted from 3 to 4 hours after sunset, 
but no spawning was observed.
September 10, 2009 ? observed first colony setting 3 hours and 19 minutes 
after sunset (9:45 PM local time); colonies started releasing gamete 
bundles approximately 15 minutes later. We estimated 10 to 15% of the 
colonies on this reef spawned, and the ones that did released gametes from 
>95% of the area of each colony. Spawn was collected and combined from 
four colonies, resulting in very high fertilization rates (>90%).
September 11, 2009 ? observed first colony setting 3 hours and 8 minutes 
after sunset (9:33 PM local time), and observed gamete release 
approximately 15 minutes later, which peaked after about 30 minutes, and 
continued for at least 45 minutes. Greater than 90% of the population 
spawned on this night, and the ones that did released gametes from >95% of 
the area of each colony.  Spawn was collected and combined from at least 
20 colonies, resulting in very high fertilization rates (near 100%).
(Spawning was not monitored after September 11)

Montastraea faveolata
Tektite Reef, St. John, USVI
September 9 and 10, 2009 ? observations conducted from 3 to 4 hours after 
sunset each night, but no spawning was observed.
September 11, 2009 ? observed colonies of this species setting and 
releasing gametes during the massive M. annularis spawning.  M. faveolata 
is much less abundant than M. annularis, so observations were qualitative. 
 Approximately 10 small (<1m diameter) colonies were observed and all of 
them were seen setting or spawning, with >95% of the area of each 
releasing gametes. These gametes were not cultured, so nothing is known 
about fertilization rates.
(Spawning was not monitored after September 11)

Coral spawning observers:
Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce: Valerie Paul
University of Central Florida: Linda Walters, Katie Grablow
University of the Virgin Islands: Eddie Parish
U.S. Geological Survey: Ilsa Kuffner, Don Hickey, Jennifer Morrison

Literature cited:

Miller J, Muller E, Rogers C, Waara R, Atkinson A, Whelan K, Patterson M, 
Witcher B (2009) Coral disease following massive bleaching in 2005 causes 
60% decline in coral cover on reefs in the US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 
10.1007/s00338-009-0531-7

*************************************************
Ilsa B. Kuffner, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist, FISC
Coastal and Watershed Science Team

US Geological Survey
Florida Integrated Science Center
600 4th Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Tel: (727) 803-8747 ext. 3048
Fax: (727) 803-2030
Email: ikuffner at usgs.gov



From:
Nicole Fogarty <fogarty at bio.fsu.edu>
To:
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Date:
09/10/2009 11:13 PM
Subject:
[Coral-List] more info needed for spawning observations
Sent by:
coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov



For all of you that might be posting coral spawning observations over 
the next few days, please include as much of the following 
information as possible:
1) Region (Island)
2) Site (Reef)
3) Spawning date
4) Tide
5) Species
6) Sunset time
7) Time gamete bundle setting was observed
8) Time spawning was observed (detailed information such as the range 
of spawning times and when the majority of corals spawned is appreciated)
9) Approximate percentage of population that spawned and approximate 
percentage of individual colonies that spawned (e.g. ~95% of the A. 
palmata population at X Reef spawned, but only about 50% of polyps on 
each individual colonies spawned)

Thanks and hopefully you had a productive September spawn!
Nikki


Nicole D. Fogarty
Florida State University
Department of Biological Science
4079 King Life Science Building
Tallahassee, FL  32306-4295
850-645-8577 office
850-644-2678 lab

_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list