Terpios hoshinota is coral-killing sponge which grows and covers most stony corals in shallow waters. It was first discovered at Green Island in 2006, and have since killed a lot of coral, yet we know little about the physiology of Terpios hoshinota. This research focuses on the propagation and growth of the sponge. In the sexual reproduction part, we collected tissue samples in 2009 and 2010, the sperm cells were found only in Jun and Aug in 2009. The oocytes were found in Apr, Jul, and Aug. In 2010, embryos occurred. No lunar pattern was found in a high-frequency sampling of tissues comparing the occurrence and sizes of oocytes and embryos. Embryos are more likely to be found in the central part of the sponge; this pattern does not apply to oocytes nor to sperm cells. The sponge may be hermaphroditic male and female gametes are developed at different locations or times. The sponge fragments can reinfect new host corals, although such capability decreased with increasing number of days suspending in the water column. The spicules parallel to each other and to the growth axis in tissue threads, moreover, the sponge quickly extended numerous tissue threads in the absence of adequate coral substrate, which may serve the function of reaching new hosts. The sponge grows faster under light than under dimmed conditions. Fusion of tissues could occur between non-identical genotypes, and allografting pairs of tissues have higher rates of rejection than isografting pairs. After allografting the sponge fragments from different areas, the fusion rates were depended on the distance of two populations in the northern coast of Green Island. The results supported that self-seeding is the mechanism how Terpios hoshinota populations exploded in the north coast Green Island. The ability to cross to the neighboring corals, to propagate by fragments, and to produce embryos may have all contributed to their self-seeding capability.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0329111-155602 |
| Date | 29 March 2011 |
| Creators | Fang, Shih-shou |
| Contributors | Jhih Teng Wang, Sen-Lin Tang, Keryea Soong, Li-Lian Liu |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | Cholon |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0329111-155602 |
| Rights | unrestricted, Copyright information available at source archive |
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