Turbulence, Cleavage, and the Naked Embryo: A Case for Coral Clones

摘要

The successful settlement of coral larvae is criti cal to the persistence of fully functional coral reef ecosystems (1, 2). An almost universal aspect of metazoan sexual reproduction is the pres ence of a protective capsule or membrane around the fertilized egg and early embryo. How ever, reef-building corals pro vide a notable exception, and coral spawning events result in billions of naked embryos floating at the sea surface (2). Fertilized coral eggs cleave within the first 2 hours after spawning and continue to di vide throughout the night to produce early-stage larvae the next day.