Vol. 62, 2023

(update: 2023.8.11)

Cellular and Biochemical Changes in Early Embryonic Development of a Scleractinian Coral, Fimbriaphyllia (Euphyllia) ancora

Shinya Shikina^1,2,*, Yi-Ling Chiu³, Yi-Jou Chung⁴, Yi-ChenYao⁴, Tai-Yu Liu⁴, Yan-Horn Lee⁵, Masatoshi Mita^6,*, and Ching-Fong Chang^2,4,*

¹Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan. *Correspondences: E-mail: shikina@mail.ntou.edu.tw (Shikina)
²Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan
³Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan. E-mail: yii2390@gmail.com (Chiu)
⁴Department of Aquaculture, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan. *Correspondences: E-mail: b0044@email.ntou.edu.tw (Chang)
    E-mail: jackyao0818@gmail.com (Yao); w198730@gmail.com (Liu)
⁵Tungkang Biotechnology Research Center, Fisheries Research Institute, Tungkang 202008, Taiwan. E-mail: leeyh4331@hotmail.com (Lee)
⁶Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. *Correspondences: E-mail: bio-mita@med.showa-u.ac.jp (Mita)

(Received 2 February 2022 / Accepted 9 May 2023 / Published 11 August 2023)
Communicated by Yoko Nozawa

Knowledge of early life histories of scleractinian corals is essential for ecological studies (e.g., larval dispersion and connectivity) and development of aquaculture techniques. The present study documents cellular and biochemical changes during early development of a scleractinian coral, Fimbriaphyllia ancora (Order Scleractinia, Family Euphyllidae). Observations of spawning revealed that F. ancora releases positively buoyant eggs. No fertilization membrane surrounded fertilized eggs, which developed into swimming planula larvae within 48 h after fertilization. Lipid content analysis showed that eggs are rich in wax esters, and that the wax ester concentration decreases significantly in planulae. Sugar content analysis revealed that the eggs are also rich in glycogen, and that the glycogen concentration increases as development progresses. Free glucose was not detected in samples that we analyzed. Moreover, a settlement assay showed that F. ancora planulae prefer to settle on dead coral debris, compared to other substrate materials, such as plastic, microscope slides, ceramics, and crustose coralline algae.

Key words: Scleractinian corals, Embryogenesis, Wax ester, Glycogen, Fimbriaphyllia ancora

Citation: Shikina S, Chiu YL, Chung YJ, Yao YC, Liu TY, Lee YH, Mita M, Chang CF. 2023. Cellular and biochemical changes in early embryonic development of a scleractinian coral, Fimbriaphyllia (Euphyllia) ancora. Zool Stud 62:38. doi:10.6620/ZS.2023.62-38.