Effects of Grazing by Herbivorous Gastropod (Trochus niloticus) on the Survivorship of Cultured Coral Spat

Ronald D Villanueva ； Maria Vanessa B Baria ； Dexter W dela Cruz

《Zoological Studies》 52卷11月 (2013/11) Pp. 89-95

https://doi.org/10.1186/1810-522X-52-44

並列摘要

Background: The technology in the production of sexual coral propagules for coral reef restoration is being actively developed recently to address concerns on the low genetic diversity in coral populations restored through transplantation of coral materials derived from fragmentation.Results: In this study, we produced coral spat attached to rubble and determined the effect of the addition of hatchery-reared trochus, a herbivorous gastropod, at two densities (one and two trochus per cage, equivalent to four and eight trochus per square meter, respectively) on the survivorship of the spat cultured in cages at the hatchery and in situ nursery. After 5 weeks of culture in the hatchery, spat survivorship was significantly higher in the two per cage trochus treatment (18.3% ± 6.7%, mean ± sd) than in the control (5.5% ± 1.7%), with the one per cage trochus treatment having intermediate spat survival (12.6% ± 7.9%). The enhanced spat survivorship, though not apparent in the in situ nursery culture, is attributed to the grazing effect of trochus as significantly lower turf algal cover was observed in rubble placed in two per cage trochus treatment (44.8% ± 3.2%) than in the one per cage trochus treatment and control (80.2% ± 6.5% and 76.3% ± 5.0%, respectively).Conclusions: This study demonstrates that trochus can be used to control algal cover and enhance survivorship of coral spat in caged culture, at least in the hatchery, for the production of sexually derived transplant materials for coral reef restoration.

並列關鍵字

Coral ； Restoration ； Trochus niloticus ； Acropora valida