Corals and Reef Environment

Coral reefs are known for the wealth and diversity of their flora and fauna. Problems in coral reef biology include accounting for the species diversity, explaining the high biomass productivity of coral reefs, distribution of coral reef organisms, and the growth and recruitment of coral colonies, to name but a few of the problems in coral reef biology.

The larvae of corals settle out of the plankton and undergo a period of growth and development on a hard substrate prior to the attainment of sexual maturity. Corals at Low Isles on the Great Barrier Reef (at latitude 16 degrees south) developed numerous gonads when reaching a size of more than 10 centimeters in diameter. These Favia doreyensis corals grew at the rate of 1.3 centimeters in diameter per year, and took an estimated 8 years to reach sexual maturity.

At latitude 7 degrees north Fungia actiniformis corals gave birth to larvae only when reaching a size greater than 7 centimeters in diameter. Branching corals tend to grow faster and die sooner than these massive species. Some species (such as Pocillopora brevicornis, Manicina areolata, Diploria labyrinthiformis, Favia fragum, Favia doreyeniss, and Lobophyllia species)

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and allow the growth of corals such as Porites astreoides and foliose colonies of Agaricia agaricties; at greater depths there was the coral Acropora plamatas which is typical of windward reefs elsewhere in the Atlantic. The solitary coral, Balanophyllia elegans, occurs off the west coast of North America, in places such as Point Loma, near San Diego. The reefs in this area may be typically 14 meters deep and be in kelp beds with typically benthic zonation. The typical fish of this area might be the sheephead, Pimelometopon pulchrum. The larvae of B. elegans are typically 2 to 3 meters, which is considered large for planular larvae. The larvae rest on the bottom for several days before becoming attached and undergoing metamorphosis. The larvae disperse less than 1-2-meter from the parent coral. Four kilometers away there is an artificial reef which B. elegans has never colonized despite having 17 years time to do so. This reef is at the same depth that B. elegans prefers and transplant experiments indicate that the coral can indeed live and reproduce on this artificial reef. This indicates that the coral is very limited in its dispersal; this is also supported by the spatial aggregation pattern of the coral. It was ca
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Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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