Influence of the Blue Coral Heliopora coerulea on Scleractinian Coral Larval Recruitment

Abstract

The octocoral Heliopora coerulea has emerged as one of the most dominant reef-building corals in the Bolinao Reef Complex, northern Philippines. One of the possible mechanisms that may contribute to the success of H. coerulea over scleractinian corals is its ability to compete effectively for space on the reef by inhibiting the settlement of coral larvae in its immediate vicinity. To determine whether H. coerulea can indeed inhibit larval recruitment, settlement tiles were deployed inside H. coerulea aggregations or on hard substrate at a distance of about 2 to 3 meters away. After three months of deployment, only a single H. coerulea recruit was observed on tiles placed within aggregations whereas many different coral recruits were observed on tiles placed on substrate away from the blue coral. These results suggest that adult H. coerulea can inhibit the settlement of scleractinian larvae. This effect may be mediated by various mechanisms, such as the production of allelopathic compounds, deployment of mesenterial filaments, and sweeper tentacles. However, further studies are needed to determine the modes of competition that are used by the coral.