. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. BRIEF SPAWNING OF SARCOPHYTON 39. FIGURE 6. Sarcophyton glaucum a. Egg (X35). b. Mature planula (X50). and Loya, 1984a). The gonads are borne only in the autozooids as in the majority of dimorphic alcyonaceans (Gohar, 1940; Yamazato et al. 1981). Previous evidence on age of onset of reproduction among soft corals is concerned with Xenia macrospiculata (2 years) and (3-4 years) (Benayahu and Loya, 1983, 1984a). The present study indicates that S. glaucum starts to reproduce only after gaining a substantially large
. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. BRIEF SPAWNING OF SARCOPHYTON 39. FIGURE 6. Sarcophyton glaucum a. Egg (X35). b. Mature planula (X50). and Loya, 1984a). The gonads are borne only in the autozooids as in the majority of dimorphic alcyonaceans (Gohar, 1940; Yamazato et al. 1981). Previous evidence on age of onset of reproduction among soft corals is concerned with Xenia macrospiculata (2 years) and (3-4 years) (Benayahu and Loya, 1983, 1984a). The present study indicates that S. glaucum starts to reproduce only after gaining a substantially large colony size corresponding to 6-7 years of age for males, and 10 years for females (Benayahu, 1982). That is, young colonies of S. glaucum allocate energy for growth rather than for reproduction (see also van Moorsel, 1983). This feature enables the coral to initially capture space on the reef, and only at a later age to reproduce (Kojis and Quinn, 1981). Growth rate of S. glaucum is very slow (increase of disk diameter of only a few mm per year, Benayahu, 1982). Hence the large size of numerous Sar- cophyton colonies, which have a disk diameter of 70-80 cm, suggests the existence of a long life span in this species. Several studies on reproduction of stony corals present the maximal egg diameter of many species and discuss the biological significance of this parameter (Rinkevich and Loya, 1979; Fadlallah and Pearse, 1982; Harriot, 1983a, b). Only few comparative data are available on maximal oocyte diameter of soft corals. Table I shows the maximal egg diameter in several alcyonaceans and their mode of reproduction. Only some of these values are derived from long-term and sequential sampling of the species. Al- though the information at hand is incomplete, it appears that soft corals have large eggs (450-750 /urn), regardless of their mode of reproduction. These findings do not coincide with the hypothesis made for stony corals suggesting that broadcasting corals might be expec
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlilliefrankrat, booksubjectbiology, booksubjectzoology
