Revealing the Key Factors behind Mysterious Synchronized Coral Spawning

May 28, 2024

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by the University of Tokyo

The article focuses on corals, their important part in oceanic ecosystems and the threats they face due to climate change and other human-led activities. To curate protective measures, it is imperative to understand these species and their reproductive life cycle that occurs once a year.

A model for coral spawning has been presented by researchers for the first time, drawing upon different environmental factors. Unconventionally, they used information gathered from an aquarium for this purpose. The study can be found in the journal, Royal Society Open Science.

One could acceptably mistake corals for sea trees due to their branching shapes and swaying tendrils. However, they are colonies of anemones, which sometimes form strong structures resembling reefs. Being animals, they reproduce through eggs and sperm, not seeds. Their method of reproduction is rather intriguing and seldomly observed.

Associate Professor Shinichiro Maruyama from the Department of Integrated Biosciences at the University of Tokyo explained, 'Coral mass spawning, where corals release their eggs and sperm in synchronized bundles over several days after a full moon, is an extremely fascinating global reproduction event. Despite years of research, the synchronous spawning's environmental triggers are still largely unknown. Due to the annual nature of the event, data is scare, making modeling of spawning patterns extremely challenging.'

The practical risks and expense of studying coral spawning in its natural habitat—from installing various environmental sensors around coral beds to diving each day for observation—led Maruyama and his team to an alternative solution, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium.

According to Maruyama, 'The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium had stored 15 years of spawning records of Acropora corals, a reef-building species common in Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. The data, untapped previously for this type of research, revealed that corals use various environmental variables like wind speed and rainfall to synchronize spawning and achieve a peak time.'

This discovery can lead to applications such as precise coral spawning prediction and assessment of environmental changes that affect coral reproduction. Understanding coral reproduction is critical for coral reef ecosystems' conservation and marine life protection. And yet, it wondering why this precious data from aquariums have not been utilized before.

'Despite being a gold mine of research data, aquariums are often overlooked as some scientists believe they do not truly reflect nature. They are also seen as less organized than a traditional laboratory. We intend to bridge this recognition gap and explore hidden possibilities,' remarks Maruyama.

'Our current goal is to develop a mathematical model predicting future spawning events in nature based on the analyzed past data presented in our model,' he adds.

The article was provided by the University of Tokyo.