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Regulation of Diel Rhythm of Larval Release by Three Pocilloporid Corals

Three brooding corals, Seriatopora hystrix, Stylophora pistillata, and Pocillopora damicornis in Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan, revealed a diel rhythm of larval release. Planulation by S. hystrix and S. pistillata was highly synchronized with one peak of planula release occurring close to sunrise. Planulae of P. damicornis were released throughout the day with two peaks occurred in the early morning and at night. We maintain corals in laboratory with varied light-dark cycle and temperature to determine the mechanism of their release rhythm. S. hystrix did not release larvae under constant light and constant dark, thus the release of larvae in S. hystrix is not controlled by an endogenous rhythm. Peak of larval release occurs after 23hrs of light cue and under the dark. Temperature treatments, in 1¢J intervals from 23.5-28.5¢J, did not change the timing of larval release. We infer that the diel rhythm of larval release of S. hystrix controlled by sunrise. S. pistillata did not release larvae under constant light and constant dark. The larval release pattern of S. pistillata is similar to S. hystrix. Thus, we infer that sunrise may be the cues for the diel rhythm of larval release of S. pistillata. P. damicornis releases larvae under constant light and constant dark, and exhibit a rhythm of larval release with 37 h periodicity under constant dark. The regulation of its larval release is complex. These results suggest that the interspecific mechanism controlling diel rhythm of larval release may be different.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0908107-002024
Date08 September 2007
CreatorsLin, Che-hung
ContributorsChen-Chih Kao, Keryea Soong, Rong-Chi Huang, Tung-Yung Fan
PublisherNSYSU
Source SetsNSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive
LanguageCholon
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0908107-002024
Rightsunrestricted, Copyright information available at source archive

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