Categorized | Environment, Featured

Broadcast spawning documented at Papahanaumokuakea

On May 20, just after sunrise, USFWS staff and volunteers observed a broadcast spawning event for the coral species Pocillopora meandrina (cauliflower coral) within the Shark Island lagoon, French Frigate Shoals, part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. (Photo courtesy of Lindsey Kramer | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

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Fish and Wildlife Service workers diving at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, part of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument and the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, have photographed for the first time a spawning event for cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina).

Cauliflower coral is a common, reef building coral species found throughout the Hawaiian Islands and the Indo-Pacific, but its spawning had never before been documented.

“The spawning event was spectacular,” Fish and Wildlife Service volunteer Lindsey Kramer said.

She and her colleagues reported one or two colonies would begin to spawn in an area, and then neighboring colonies would follow.

Gray, smoke-like puffs of reproductive materials were ejected from each coral in waves, until the water became a hazy gray. The out-going tide washed the spawning materials away within a few minutes, and the entire event lasted only about 10 minutes across the entire lagoon.

Beginning in 2000, UH Sea Grant’s ReefWatchers, led by Sara Peck and volunteer Joan Prater, began observing broadcast spawning of cauliflower coral on the Big Island.

Broadcast spawning events have since been observed annually on the Big Island by ReefWatchers, and a predictive model is being developed based on oceanographic conditions, seasonality, water temperature and lunar cycles.

Kramer adjusted the 2011 predictions for the Big Island spawning to fit the later sunrise and moonset at the French Frigate Shoals to capture the event.

Papahanaumokuakea is cooperatively managed to ensure ecological integrity and achieve strong, long-term protection and perpetuation of Northwestern Hawaiian Island ecosystems, Native Hawaiian culture, and heritage resources for current and future generations.

Three co-trustees – the Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, and State of Hawaii – joined by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, protect this special place.

Find out more:
www.papahanaumokuakea.gov
www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/tags/coralspawning

Spawning cauliflower coral within the Shark Island lagoon, French Frigate Shoals, part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. (Photo courtesy of Paula Hartzell | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Project leader Lindsey Kramer records cauliflower coral spawning at Shark Island. This is the first time coral spawning has been documented for this area. (Photo courtesy of Kristina Dickson | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

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