The 3D Reconstruction of Pocillopora Colony Sheds Light on the Growth Pattern of This Reef-Building Coral
Yixin Li,
Tingyu Han,
Kun Bi,
Kun Liang,
Junyuan Chen,
Jing Lu,
Chunpeng He,
Zuhong Lu
Affiliations
Yixin Li
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Tingyu Han
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Kun Bi
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Kun Liang
Nanjing Institute of Paleontology and Geology, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
Junyuan Chen
Nanjing Institute of Paleontology and Geology, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
Jing Lu
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China; Corresponding author
Chunpeng He
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China; Corresponding author
Zuhong Lu
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Coral reefs are formed by living polyps, and understanding the dynamic processes behind the reefs is crucial for marine ecosystem restoration. However, these processes are still unclear because the growth and budding patterns of living polyps are poorly known. Here, we investigate the growth pattern of a widely distributed reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis from Xisha Islands using high-resolution computed tomography. We examine the corallites in a single corallum of the species in detail, to interpret the budding, growth, and distribution pattern of the polyps, to reconstruct the growth pattern of this important reef-building species. Our results reveal a three-stage growth pattern of P. damicornis, based on different growth bundles that are secreted by polyps along the dichotomous growth axes of the corallites. Our work on the three-dimensional reconstruction of calice and inter-septal space structure of P. damicornis sheds lights on its reef-building processes by reconstructing the budding patterns.
