Large Coral Reproduction 2019 Final Report

The purpose of this project was to assist the reproduction and propagation of previously known, large (≥ 2 m diameter), species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) corals of the species Orbicella faveolata and Montastraea cavernosa colonies in Southeast Florida (SE FL). This included collecting gametes during spawning, fertilizing eggs, rearing larvae and growing recruits into colonies that can be used for future restoration, using the large colonies of corals of opportunity to induce gonad maturation and spawning in captivity in the next spawning season, and propagating smaller pieces of coral of opportunity via microfragmentation. These activities will preserve the genotypes of the largest, oldest, and most resilient corals in SE FL and the Keys and facilitate population recovery after the disease event. The outcomes of this project will provide numerous colonies composed of the largest, most resilient corals in the region and save their genetic information in ex situ tanks.
This project is incorporated into an on-going coral disease response effort which seeks to improve understanding about the scale and severity of Florida’s Coral Reef coral disease outbreak, identify primary and secondary causes, identify management actions to remediate disease impacts, restore affected resources and, ultimately, prevent future outbreaks.
This report summarizes the field and lab efforts conducted to fulfill PO B54DE4 deliverables through June 30, 2020.