INVESTIGATING FERTILIZATION TRENDS IN TWO SPECIES OF THREATENED STONY CORAL IN THE FLORIDA KEYS
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Parsons, Emily
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Abstract
Acropora cervicornis and Orbicella faveolata are important reef-building coral species in the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). These species have experienced alarming declines throughout the FRT, resulting in an increased risk of inbreeding depression and susceptibility to decreased fitness in surviving colonies. Both A. cervicornis and O. faveolata are broadcast spawners, introducing genetic diversity through sexual recombination of gametes during annual spawning events. Successful reproduction during this time is critical for curbing the deleterious effects of inbreeding depression, and in successfully restoring colonies to self-sustaining levels of genetic diversity in the wild. A critical step in the reproductive cycle of these species is the success of gamete fertilization following mass spawning events. Several abiotic causes of gametic incompatibilities have been reliably observed in these species, and incompatibility between certain genotypes has been shown to occur. With the goal of adding to the body of knowledge currently available for practitioners of assisted reproduction for these species, this study further investigates potential factors affecting fertilization success by analyzing four sets of fertilization data from pairwise crossing experiments carried out for A. cervicornis and three sets of fertilization data for O. faveolata over two separate years in the Florida Keys. Findings in this study suggest factors affecting fertilization success differ between the two species, with O. faveolata displaying consistently high rates of fertilization across both years, while further investigation is needed into the roles of gamete directionality, gamete age, and genetic relatedness in the fertilization success of A. cervicornis.