查看文章

Reproductive ecology of two major reef-building corals in the eastern Pacific [Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus) andPocillopora elegans Dana] was investigated between 1984 and 1990 in Costa Rica, Panama (Gulf of Chiriqui and Gulf of Panama), and the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) following the 1982–83 El Niño disturbance. Mature spermatocytes and oocytes were found in both species and were usually present in the same polyp in nearly equal ratios. Numerous zooxanthellae were observed in mature, unfertilized oocytes. Although spawning in field populations was not observed, it is likely that both pocilloporids are simultaneous hermaphroditic spawners, as evidenced by the disappearance of mature gametes after full moon. This is in contrast with most known pocilloporid corals that brood and release planula larvae. Corals were reproductively most active in the thermally stable environments of …