Coral Reef Reproduction and its Features in the Arabian Gulf (Jebel Ali, UAE)

Abstract

Very little information is known about coral species reproduction in the Arabian Gulf. The present study has chosen the area of Ghantoot reserve in Jebel Ali (Saih Al Shaib-Dubai at UAE), which has a high biodiversity in both fauna and flora, to study the reproductive patterns, timing and degree of synchrony in spawning of coral species living at the coastal area of Jebel Ali. It also aimed to determine the impact of environmental parameters variations on gametogenesis and length of the reproductive season of the coral by finding out the proportion of their population with mature eggs. In that regard, four species (Acropora downingi, Cyphastrea microphthalma, Platygyra daedalea and Porites harrisoni) were selected as the most dominant ones and studied along a period of one-year round (August 2008-August 2009). The results obtained have shown that three of the studied species were hermaphroditic and the other was gonochoric. Ovaries and spermaries were seen clearly by the histological section. The physical environmental factors showed a strong relation with the reproduction. Water temperature was the main factor affecting the reproductive cycle of all the species. The present study has also documented the coral spawning in field and reported to happen in the period extending from March to May. Moreover, the oogenesis lasted for 6-8 months, while the spermatogenesis extended for only two months. This study can be considered as a baseline for the coral reproduction studies in this region. It also opens new horizons for future investigations regarding the coral reefs management in the region and to alert decision makers toward the need of conserving such valuable natural resource.

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InternationalJournalofEnvironmentandSustainability
ISSN1927‐9566|Vol.1No.3,pp.12‐21(2012)
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*Correspondingauthor:buhumdan@hotmail.com
Coral Reef Reproduction and its features in the Arabian Gulf
(Jebel Ali, UAE)
Ahmed Al-Hashmi*, Waleed Hamza, Gaber Ramadan
United Arab Emirates University, UAE
Abstract
Very little information is known about coral species reproduction in the Arabian Gulf. The present study
has chosen the area of Ghantoot reserve in Jebel Ali (Saih Al Shaib- Dubai at UAE), which has a high
biodiversity in both fauna and flora, to study the reproductive patterns, timing and degree of synchrony in
spawning of coral species living at the coastal area of Jebel Ali. It also aimed to determine the impact of
environmental parameters variations on gametogenesis and length of the reproductive season of the coral
by finding out the proportion of their population with mature eggs. In that regard, four species (Acropora
downingi, Cyphastrea microphthalma, Platygyra daedalea and Porites harrisoni) were selected as the
most dominant ones and studied along a period of one-year round (August 2008 - August 2009). The
results obtained have shown that three of the studied species were hermaphroditic and the other was
gonochoric. Ovaries and spermaries were seen clearly by the histological section. The physical
environmental factors showed a strong relation with the reproduction. Water temperature was the main
factor affecting the reproductive cycle of all the species. The present study has also documented the coral
spawning in field and reported to happen in the period extending from March to May. Moreover, the
oogenesis lasted for 6-8 months, while the spermatogenesis extended for only two months. This study can
be considered as a baseline for the coral reproduction studies in this region. It also opens new horizons for
future investigations regarding the coral reefs management in the region and to alert decision makers
toward the need of conserving such valuable natural resource.
Keywords: Scleractinian corals, Environmental impact, Corals’ reproduction, Arabian Gulf
1. Introduction
Studies on coral reproduction have been conducted
in different places in the world and revealed many
interesting information describing the different
strategies of reproduction in corals. These studies
were conducted in Japan (Hayashibara, 1993),
Australia (Harrison, 1984; Babcock, 1986, Wilson
and Harrison, 2003), Caribbean (Szmant, 1986),
Central Pacific (Kenyon, 1995), Red Sea
(Shlesinger et al, 1998), Kenya (Mangubhai and
Harrison, 2008) and Arabian Gulf (Fadlallah,
1996). It helped in better understanding the
ecology of the corals, their response to the
surrounding environment and its changes and
finding some solutions in order to ensure their
sustainability although very little information is
known about the Arabian Gulf species. The
Arabian Gulf is characterized by its harsh
environmental conditions such as high water
temperature and salinity (Coles 1988; Sheppard,
1991; Coles and Fadlallah, 1991; Sheppard, 1992).
The targeted site coordinates for the present study
was N24° 58' 18.192'', E54° 57' 59.0034'' which is
the Jebel Ali reef known as Saih Al-Shaib,
opposite to Ghantoot reserve (Figure 1). This area

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has a high biodiversity in both fauna and flora.
Recently many coastal construction development
and industrial projects took place in the area and
imposed a serious threat on the reefs sustainability.
This induced the scientists' interest including this
research in investigating the impacts of these
projects on the continuity of the ecosystem.
Figure 1: Detailed zooming on the sampling site
The objectives of this research were to study the
reproductive patterns, timing and degree of
synchrony in spawning of coral species living at
the coastal area of Jebel Ali, and to determine the
impact of environmental parameters variations on
gametogenesis, length of the reproductive season
of the coral by finding out the proportion of their
population with mature eggs. In that regard, four
species (Acropora downingi, Cyphastrea
microphthalma, Platygyra daedalea and Porites
harrisoni) were selected as of the most dominant
ones and studied along a period of one-year round
(August 2008 - August 2009). These four species
belonged to Acroporidae, Faviids and Poritidae
families. The reasons of choosing this study area
are: (a) the dominance and high diversity of the
reef species and (b) the existence of previous
studies on these areas (Riegl, 1999 and Burt,
2008). The average depth of the site ranged
between 4-6m.
2. Materials and Methods
Monthly ten samples of each of the four species
were collected and analyzed, while environmental
parameters (e.g. temperature, salinity, turbidity,
chlorophyll-a and dissolved oxygen) data were
measured and recorded on daily basis in the
environment surrounding the corals. Samples were
collected in situ usually from 9:00AM to 12:00PM
prior to the full moon of each month and then
preserved in 10% formaldehyde sea water for 24
hours followed by a rinse with running tap water
for ½ hour to remove the excess fixative before
storing in 70 % ethanol solution for further
Jebel Ali
Pl
Jumairah Palm
Jebel Ali
Pl
The World Islands
Dubai
d c
Arabian Gulf
a b
UAE
Jebel Ali
Jebel Ali
Fr
ee Zone
Ghantoot
Reserve at
Jebel Ali JAWS
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14©Al‐Hashmi,HamzaandRamadan2012|CoralReefReproduction
analyses. Samples were then processed for paraffin
technique (Shlesinger and Loya (Shlesinger and
Loya, 1985; Fadlallah, 1996; Shlesinger et al,
1998).
Histological and dissecting analyses were carried
out to study the sexuality, the timing and the
reproductive patterns of the corals. Acropora
downingi and Cyphastrea microphthalma were
analyzed by microscopical analysis with more than
360 polyps. On the other hand, Porites harrisoni
and Platygyra daedalea were analyzed by
histological techniques (Guest, 2004). Samples
were then processed for Paraffin technique. Tissue
samples were oriented in paraffin blocks to obtain
polyps longitudinal sections. Serial sections (5-7µ)
were produced by automatic Microtome
(MICROM HM 315), mounted on slides and
stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin for further
examination.
Gametes of Porites harrisoni found in this study
follow the description given by Glynn et al. 1994;
and Muramatsu and Silveira, 2008. The number of
the oocytes, their diameter and percentage of the
colonies having the reproductive organs were
recorded and calculated in order to find out the
effect of the physical environmental factors on the
coral reproduction.
Water Quality parameters include temperature,
salinity, turbidity, chlorophyll-a and dissolved
oxygen were monitored during the study period by
using the combined WetLabs’ fluorometer-
turbidity sensor and Sea-Bird’s multi-parameter.
WQM is deployed on strategic locations around
5m of depth during the study period (September
2008 - July 2009).
Data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS for
Windows (version 18, 2010) that used to measure
the strength of association between two variables
and used to investigate the most effective
environmental parameters on the production and
productivity of the different species during the
study period.
3. Results and Discussion
The studied coral species, Acropora downingi,
Cyphastrea microphthalma and Platygyra
daedalea, were known to be hermaphrodites and
reproduce in Jebel Ali with gametes development
having oocytes and spermaries intermingled on the
mesentery. The only species that was found to be
gonochoric is Porites harrisoni. Since spawning
was not observed directly in the field, we indicated
the approximate spawning time by the
disappearance of the oocytes in the dissecting
analysis and the histological sections of the
reproductive organs. It has been found that all the
four studied species have a single annual cycle of
gametogenesis.
The timing of gametogenesis and spawning is
thought to be controlled by a number of factors,
which can be divided into the underlying
evolutionary causes (‘ultimate factors’) and the
mechanisms (‘proximate cues’) responsible for
controlling reproductive patterns (Tranter, 1982;
Oliver et al, 1988; Richmond and Hunter, 1990;
Harrison and Wallace, 1990; Hayashibara, 1993;
Wilson and Harrison 2003; Rosser and Baird,
2008; Baird et al, 2009).
Synchrony is also affected by many factors such as
the temperature of the sea surface (SST) that has a
major effect on the physiology of the spawning
species in a certain location (Tranter, 1982, Rosser
and Baird, 2008, Baird et al, 2009).
The four studied species have shown to be
broadcast spawners as evidenced by: (a) the
presence of large spermaries in polyps and mature
pigmented oocytes seen in situ in Acropora
downingi and Cyphastrea microphthalma. While,
for the Porites harrisoni and Platygyra daedalea
the oocytes were seen only in vitro by the
histological sections, and (b) the lack of planulae
in all samples.
The oogenesis of the Acropora downingi in the
Arabian Gulf extends over a period of 7 to 8
months same as found in Acropora variabilis in the
Red Sea (Shlesinger et al, 1998). For the Acropora
downingi it is predicted to spawn in the Arabian
Gulf during the period between Mar/Apr. Where,
the percentage of the colonies containing
reproductive organs dropped from 70% in March
to 20% in April which indicates a major spawning
in April (Table 1). On the other hand, another
spawning had occurred in April as the oocytes
disappeared in May. This showed that Acropora
downingi has major and minor spawning events.
Similarly to Acropora downingi, the oogenesis of
the Cyphastrea species in the Arabian Gulf and in
the Red Sea extended for the same period
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(Shlesinger et al, 1998). The smallest detectable
oocyte had a mean diameter of 160μm in
September 2008 (Figure 2). The mean diameter of
oocytes at maturity was 636μm in April with a
pink to orange color prior to spawning (Table 2).
The October samples were lost and this might be
because they were not well preserved.
Table 1
Percentage (%) of colonies with gonads of the four studied species throughout the study period from Jul
08/ Jul 09
Year 2008 2009
Month Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Acropora downingi 40 - 60 80 100 100 80 20 - - -
Cyphastrea
microphthalma - - 60 100 80 100 100 100 100 - -
Platygyra daedalea - - 50 70 50 50 80 50 30 - -
Porites harrisoni 20 70 90 70 100 100 - -
Table 2
Monthly mean of the oocyte diameter in micrometer (µm)
Year 2008 2009
Month Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Acropora downingi 164 - 290 336 326 428 545 636 - - -
Cyphastrea
microphthalma - - 90 81 99 126 143 259 321 - -
Platygyra daedalea - - 39 61 75 81 112 159 240 - -
Porites harrisoni - - - 11 12 20 63 95 104 - -
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16©Al‐Hashmi,HamzaandRamadan2012|CoralReefReproduction
Figure 2: Acropora downingi ovaries and
oocytes
Figure 5: Platygyra daedalea oocytes integrated
with the spermaries
Figure 3: Cyphastrea microphthalma polyps
and the ovaries containing the oocytes
Figure 6: Female organs of Porites harrisoni
(oocytes)
Figure 4: Platygyra daedalea orange colored
eggs during spawning
Figure 7: Histological dissection of the male
organs of Porites harrisoni (spermaries)
On the other hand, around three colonies of
Cyphastrea microphthalma were seen spawning on
the same day of Platygyra daedalea spawning. The
smallest detectable oocyte of Cyphastrea
microphthalma had a mean diameter of 60 μm in
November 2008 (Figure 3). The mean diameter of
oocytes at maturity was around 320 μm in May,
2009 (Table 2).
Regarding Platygyra daedalea, the oocytes
appeared in some colonies as early as November,
but were low in abundance until May, indicating
that the oogenic cycle may last for six to seven
months similar to Platygyra daedalea in Kenya
(Mangubhai and Harrison, 2008), whereas
spermatogenesis lasted for two months (Table 1).
Platygyra daedalea and Cyphastrea micro-
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phthalma were recorded their spawning in May the
day of the full-moon and one day after. Around
five colonies of Platygyra daedalea were seen with
orange colored eggs (Figure 4). The oogenesis
occurred for 6-7 months from November 2008 -
May 2009 and spermatogenesis occurred for 2
months from April to May 2009 (Figure 5). The
minimum mean oocyte diameter for Platygyra
daedalea was 39µm and the maximum mean was
240µm (Table 2).
In the literature, there were no studies about
Porites harrisoni species. The only close species
that was found in details were Porites lutea and
Porites lobata. Studies on reproduction of Porites
lutea have been done in the Great Barrier Reef
(GBR), Heron Island (23°S) (Kojis and Quinn,
1981), Singapore (1°N) (James, 2004) and the
Northern Red Sea at Eilat (29°N) (Shlesinger et al,
1998). In all of these studies, Porites lutea was
gonochoric and a broadcast spawner. Reproductive
characteristics, such as the length of the
gametogenic cycle in this study, were different
from those found for Porites lutea and Porites
lobata on the Great Barrier Reef (Kojis and Quinn,
1981; Harriott, 1983; Babcock et al, 1986) and in
the Red Sea (Shlesinger et al, 1998). Porites
harrisoni in the Arabian Gulf spawn in May. In
addition, the duration of the gametogenesis
extended for 4 to 6 months for the oogenesis and
two months for the spermatogenesis (Figure 6,7).
The minimum mean oocyte diameter found in
Porites harrisoni was 11µm and the maximum
mean was 104 µm (Table 2).
The obtained results have confirmed water
temperature as a significant factor determining the
general timing of annual spawning at high-latitudes
(e.g. Shlesinger and Loya, 1985; Van Woesik,
1995; Wilson and Harrison, 2003; but see Babcock
et al, 1994). However, global comparisons of coral
spawning times and Sea Surface Temperatures
(SSTs) showed that there were a number of
inconsistencies in this relationship. A dramatic
increase in the average size of both oocytes and
testes in the studied species, over a 3 month period
from January to April in 2009, coincided with a
rise in the mean of the monthly SST of 5°C (from
23-28°C) (Table 3), therefore the main spawning
times occurred when SSTs were rising. These
findings are consistent with those from other
regions, where the final maturation of gametes and
spawning coincided with the period when SSTs are
warming (Harrison and Wallace, 1990; Richmond
and Hunter, 1990). These data lend support to the
hypothesis that gamete maturation in corals is
regulated by a rapid change in SSTs (Babcock et
al, 1986). Orton’s rule predicts that breeding in
marine invertebrates should be continuous above
some critical temperature (Orton, 1920). The mass
spawning occurs after the spring temperature rise
when the temperature is well below the summer
maximum (Harrison & Wallace 1990). This is
found in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf as well.
Table 3
Monthly water measurements of the temperature, salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll-a
Year 2008 2009
Month Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Temperature (C°) 31.4 29.8 26.3 22.6 20.4 20.2 22.9 24.6 28.46 31.0 31.9
Salinity (PPT) 40.2 40.1 40.8 40.6 41.4 41.1 41.3 40.0 40.4 41.1 41.4
Turbidity (NTU) 1.7 1.3 1.8 2.5 2.3 1.6 2.1 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.0
Dissolved Oxygen
(mll-1 )
3.7 3.3 3.8 4.0 4.3 4.0 3.8 4.0 3.7 3.7 3.6
Chlorophyll-a (ugl-1) 1.7 1.6 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.0 1.4 1.3
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The high salinity during the winter may be due to
the retreats of the front water masses of the
Arabian Gulf towards the Strait of Hormuz as
suggested by Kämpf in 2006, while in summer the
increase of water temperature may lead to an
increase in the water evaporation rate and the
salinity as well (Table 3). The statistical results
showed no relation between the salinity and any
factor of the coral reproduction patterns. However,
it is hard to think of any reasonable biological
basis for salinity as a seasonal reproductive cue in
corals. That is especially if we know that such
species are living in the Arabian Gulf since a long
times and they became adapted to its salinity
fluctuations (WCMC, 1991).
The increase in turbidity during the winter could be
due to the strong currents affecting the area, while
the other peak recorded in March might be caused
by the action of Shamal wind and/ or the nearby
human activities represented by dredging
operations related to coastal constructions projects
in the area. The results showed that colonies with
reproductive organs of Acropora downingi, while
the average number of oocytes per polyp of
Acropora downingi was the only affected stage,
whereas the Porites harrisoni was not affected by
the turbidity. The spawning was seen to occur
when the turbidity drops from 1.8 to 1.3 NTU
(Table 3).
Satellite monitoring showed that the region of the
Arabian Gulf is characterized by a constantly low
Chlorophyll-a with a maximum in winter and a
minimum in spring-early summer (Nezlin, 2007).
However, the critical chlorophyll change that
induces spawning was when its value dropped
from 1.5 to 1 ugl-1. It has been concluded from the
statistical results that the chlorophyll-a is a
cofactor acting synergistically with the temperature
to affect the percentage of colonies containing
reproductive organs of Acropora downingi and
Porites harrisoni (Table 3).
Dissolved oxygen (DO) levels are usually
inversely proportional to the water temperature
(Table 3). The DO was shown to exert a positive
effect on the percentage of the colonies with
reproductive organs in all the species. The strong
positive correlation may be because the oxygen
had played an important role in the growth and the
development of the early stages of the oocytes
before the zooxanthella had appeared and entered
the oocytes membrane at the late stages (Kojis and
Quinn, 1981; Heyward, 1986; Tomascik and
Sander, 1987). Although this conclusion has never
been cited elsewhere by any of the published
literatures, our statistical analyses have supported
such finding, which may have an ecological sound
basis in the present study.
According to our results, it has been found that the
temperature was the main environmental factor
affecting the reproduction of almost all coral
species with a minor exception of Porites
harrisoni. Studies showed that there was a
temperature increase by 2°C between 1996 and
1998 where Acropora species were highly
bleached in Dubai (Riegl, 1999; George and John,
1999; Sheppard and Loughland, 2002), while
Poritidae were much less vulnerable and damaged.
Coral Reef Management
Studying of coral reproductive cycles is an
important part of our understanding base on the
ecological processes of coral reefs and, by itself, is
essential for their management and conservation.
Successful coral reproduction is necessary for
getting new colonies to a reef and the recovery of
destroyed sites by natural or anthropogenic
turbulence. An understanding of coral reproductive
cycles and the impact of environmental factors on
reproduction is for that reason vital in
comprehending the potential of this important part
of the life cycle. That's why it important to conduct
some regular monitoring and surveys for coral
reefs reproduction, recruitment, ecosystem etc… to
understand their behavior and what the main
threats are. It is believed that this study will help to
select the best time for any marine project or coral
translocation. As we found that during summer
(June – August), corals don't have any
reproductive spermaries or oocytes. However, in
summer the hot weather and temperature should be
considered. Also, it shows us the main
environmental factors that play a role in
reproduction and we need to consider them during
the projects such as: temperature and dissolved
oxygen concentrations.
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4. Conclusion
The present study has documented the coral
spawning in field and reported that it happens in
the period extending from March to May.
Moreover, the oogenesis lasted between 6-8
months for the four studied species (September –
May), while the spermatogenesis extended only for
two months (April - May). To this extent, it has
been found that this study can be used as a baseline
for the coral reproduction studies in this region.
The fact that the four unrelated species had almost
identical seasonal reproductive patterns indicates
that there may also be a high degree of multi-
species reproductive seasonality and synchrony
(i.e. other scleractinian species may respond
similarly to seasonal cues), both in terms of gamete
maturation and in terms of spawning. It also opens
new horizons for future investigations regarding
the coral reefs management in the region and to
alert decision makers toward the need of
conserving such valuable natural resource.
Acknowledgements
This research project would not have been possible
without the support of many people. In that
concern, I would like here to express my
appreciation to the Biology Department, Faculty of
Science - United Arab Emirates University for
supplying all technical support and laboratory
facilities. I would also like to convey thanks to the
Head of the Emirates Marine Environmental Group
(EMEG) Major Ali Saqer Al Suwaidi for providing
the logistical support in the field and the Dubai
World – EHS (Trakhees) for the laboratory
facilities in Jebel Ali. This work is partially
financed by the United Nation University (UNU),
through the scholarship grant agreed with UAE
University.
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