The Impacts ofEx SituTransplantation on the Physiology of the Taiwanese Reef-Building CoralSeriatopora hystrix

Abstract

We sought to determine whether the Indo-Pacific reef-building coralSeriatopora hystrixperforms in a similar manner in the laboratory as it doesin situby measuringSymbiodiniumdensity, chlorophyll a (chl-a) concentration, and the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (FV/FM) at the time of field sampling (in situ), as well as after three weeks of acclimation and one week of experimentation (ex situ).Symbiodiniumdensity was similar between corals of the two study sites, Houbihu (an upwelling reef) and Houwan (a nonupwelling reef), and also remained at similar levelsex situasin situ. On the other hand, both areal and cell-specific chl-aconcentrations approximately doubledex siturelative toin situ, an increase that may be due to having employed a light regime that differed from that experienced by these corals on the reefs of southern Taiwan from which they were collected. As this change inSymbiodiniumchl-acontent was documented in corals of both sites, the experiment itself was not biased by this difference. Furthermore,FV/FMincreased by only 1%ex siturelative toin situ, indicating that the corals maintained a similar level of photosynthetic performance as displayedin situeven after one month in captivity.