PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #12: Marine Ecology.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC
118
Population structure and reproduction of the sea anemone Condylactis sp. in Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan.
TSAI, WAN-HSU*,1, DAI, CHANG-FENG1, FAN, TUNG-YUNG2, 1 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan2 National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung, Taiwan
ABSTRACT- Coral reefs have recently suffered degradation worldwide due to global climatic change and anthropogenic pollution. The degradation of coral reefs in Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan has been documented, and the outbreak of the sea anemone, Condylactis sp., has been proposed as a factor associated with such reef degradation. However, the cause of this outbreak is still unknown. Reproduction and the population structure of Condylactis sp. were studied from December 1999 to August 2001. The juvenile individuals (<0.5 g wet weight) were found throughout the year and were most abundant in the populations of December 1999, January, September, October, November 2000, and August 2001. The anemone propagates asexually by longitudinal division throughout the year. Asexual reproduction occurred in all size classes and with higher proportions occurring in the classes of 3-5.5 g wet weight. Oogenesis began in May and spawning occurred in April and May. The individuals larger than 0.5 g wet weight were mature sexually. The male individual has not been found over the two years study. These results suggest that the juveniles appeared throughout the year may be reproduced asexually, and the more juveniles found in fall and winter might be resulted from both the asexual and sexual recruitment.
KEY WORDS: Population structure, reproduction, sea anemone, coral reef