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

2012; Volume: 1; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.24102/ijes.v1i3.87

1927-9566

A. Al-Hashmi,

Coastal and Marine Management

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.