Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis that waters surrounding reefs with healthy coral populations are more likely than degraded sites to induce planulae to navigate downward and begin benthic probing. In the laboratory, larvae from two brooding Caribbean coral species, Agaricia tenuifolia and Porites astreoides, were introduced to seawater collected at (1) 1 m above shallow, healthy reef with high-coral cover, (2) 1 m above shallow, degraded reef with high-macroalgal cover, and (3) ~400 m ocean-ward of the reef in deep, blue water. Counter to the hypothesis, water from both the healthy and degraded reef caused the larvae to swim downward and begin benthic probing. These results suggest that substances carried in reef waters may contribute to macro-scale habitat selection by planulae and that understanding how these waterborne cues mesh with other stimuli used by planulae to select a settlement site may be valuable for deciphering a site’s recruitment potential for corals.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded substantially by the Connectivity Working Group of the Coral Reef Targeted Research (CRTR) Program, a GEF—World Bank—University of Queensland international program (http://www.gefcoral.org). We thank the staff of the University of Belize’s Calabash Caye field station for providing logistical support to complete this work. We also thank the Marine/Aquatic Discussion Group at Georgia Southern University, especially B. Schulte and S. Vives, for comments that improved earlier drafts.
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Communicated by Environment Editor Prof. Rob van Woesik
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Gleason, D.F., Danilowicz, B.S. & Nolan, C.J. Reef waters stimulate substratum exploration in planulae from brooding Caribbean corals. Coral Reefs 28, 549–554 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0480-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0480-1