Cycles of gametogenesis and plantation in the coral Pocillopora damicornis

Abstract

Sequence and timing of gametogenesis, embryogenesis and planulation by the coral Pocillopora damicornis at Rottnest Island, the southern limit of the coral's distribution in Western Australia, were examined by an intensive histological analysis. These corals are simultaneous herma- phrodites in which gametogenesis and planulation occur during spring and summer (Nov to Mar) and follow a lunar cycle. Reproductive cycles of gametogenesis and planulation by individual heads are synchronized within and, to a lesser extent, between sites. Individual heads of coral may have up to 3 cycles of maturing gametes and planulae per season. However, despite the intensive histological examination of gametogenesis, the developmental pathway leading to brooded planulae remains equivocal because oogenesis does not necessarily occur in synchrony with planulation.