First report of successful recruitment by conjoined larvae in the brooding scleractinian coral Pocillopora acuta, southern Taiwan

Abstract

We report the first observation of conjoined larvae (CL) in the scleractinian coral Pocillopora acuta. Colonies at an elevated temperature had a higher ratio of CL (29 °C; 1:200) than colonies at an ambient temperature (26 °C; 1:500). CL demonstrated normal swimming ability and capacity for settlement, metamorphosis, and asexual budding.