"Acropora cervicornis" (Lamarck, 1816) spawning at Guanahacabibes National Park, Western Cuba.

Abstract

Coral reefs are in decline, expecting to get even worse if protection and restoration actions are not established immediately. Coral restoration´s efforts assist the recovering of coral colonies in degraded areas of the reef. Although it has been proven that fragmentation methods contribute to restore coral cover, it limits the formation of new genotypes through genetic recombination. Using sexually derived corals for restoration would allow a high genetic heterogeneity and resilience of nurseries’ coral colonies. Date and timing of coral spawn must be recorded for areas where this restoration method will be applied. There is no scientific report about Acropora cervicornis spawning in Cuba. In 2018 and 2019, mature colonies with high probability to spawn were monitored at Guanahacabibes National Park (GNP), Western Cuba. In July-August 2018, 20 colonies were monitored and none of them spawned. In August 2019, 31 colonies were monitored and three spawned partially and isolated in time. The most evident cause of this behavior in A. cervicornis populations of GNP in 2019 seems to be high temperatures followed by bleaching events. Received: 29-03-2021 Accepted: 15-06-2021 First published: 10-01-2022 Editor: Luis Soto

Keywords

• Acropora cervicornis
• coral spawning
• Guanahacabibes
• Cuba