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Fun fact Click Me! X Fun Fact Humans can do it, and now corals can too — freeze their eggs, sperm, and embryos for later usage. X Fun Fact Can you imagine getting smashed by a wave and then you produce a clone? Next section Previous section Page 2 of 4. Fragmentation : when a piece of coral intentionally or unintentionally storms, human disturbance, etc. It can grow, developing into a mature coral and starting new colonies. This method is often used by people to restore coral reefs figure A fragment can be broken off, grown until they are healthy and mature enough, and then transplanted on to a coral reef.
Budding occurs when a portion of the parent polyp pinches off to form a new individual. Coral budding Figure This sometimes occurs with corals from the Family Fungiidae, the mushroom corals figure They are solitary corals that can decalcify, or break up, their skeletons, creating two pieces and then growing their other half back.
Other similar types of reproduction occur in Fungiids. They can decalcify part of the skeleton forming acanthocauli juvenile polyps formed asexually. These polyps grow on top of their dead parents and eventually break off into individual polyps. Mushroom coral undergoing fission Bailout figure : When a single polyp abandons its colony and settles on the substrate to create a new colony.
In some areas, mass coral spawning events occur one specific night per year, determined by environmental cues, such as temperature, day length, and lunar cycles. The corals have to coordinate both within its species and amongst other species so that hybridization is limited. If they are not eaten, they eventually settle to the ocean floor and attach to a hard surface.
Once attached, they metamorphose into a coral polyp and begin to grow, dividing in half. As more and more polyps are added, a coral colony develops and eventually begins to reproduce. Watch a video of coral spawning. Facts on Coral Reproduction. The short-term getting ready to spawn control is usually based on lunar cues, or cues from the moon.
The final release, or spawn, is usually based on the time of sunset. Planulae swim upward toward the light exhibiting positive phototaxis , entering the surface waters and being transported by the current. After floating at the surface, the planulae swim back down to the bottom, where, if conditions are favorable, they will settle.
Once the planulae settle, they metamorphose into polyps and form colonies that increase in size. In most species, the larvae settle within two days, although some will swim for up to three weeks, and in one known instance, two months.
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