Coral reproduction at Hall Bank, a high latitude coral assemblage in Western Australia

Abstract

Research on coral reproduction has increased dramatically in recent times; however, there remain significant regions, in particular high latitude reefs, where research is limited. For example, the reproductive biology of species in the coral assemblage at Hall Bank, a high latitude site (32 degrees S) in southern Western Australia, remain unknown. Here, reproductive traits and the likely time of spawning for 12 of the approximately 16 species that occur at Hall Bank were established using histology between March 2009 and March 2011 at 7 discrete time points. Peak reproductive activity most likely occurs in February, as 7 of the 10 species sampled in this month had colonies with mature gametes. The sexuality, mode of larval development and transmission of symbionts were, as expected, consistent with previous work. The reproductive biology of the corals at Hall Bank is consistent with other regions of the Indo-Pacific, supporting the hypo thesis that reproductive traits such as sexuality and mode of larval development are evolutionarily conserved and do not vary biogeographically.