Reproductive success of restored coral colonies in Vaan Island, Gulf of Mannar, Southeastern India

Abstract

<span style="font-size:9.0pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-bidi-font-family:mangal;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-US">Present study consists reproductive behaviors of natural and transplanted acroporan corals in Vaan Island of the Gulf of Mannar. Single reproductive season per year and reproductive synchrony have been observed during the study period between 2008 and 2010 among the monitored <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Acropora</i> species in both natural and transplanted colonies. Studies on the gametogenic cycle in three species, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Acropora intermedia, A. nobilis and A. cytherea </i>showed a single annual cycle of gametogenesis. Patterns of oogenesis, spermatogenesis and fecundity were almost similar between the three species and between natural and restored colonies. Multi-specific synchronous spawning was observed among the acroporans from both natural and restored colonies during March in all the study years. It was obvious that restored corals involve in the sexual reproduction effectively in Vaan Island exactly as the natural corals. Hence restoration through fragment transplantation is a successful option to employ in any degraded reef. </span></span>