Seasonal gametogenesis of host sea anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) inhabiting Hong Kong waters

Ying Bi, Bin Zhang, Zhifeng Zhang*, Jianwen Qiu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Studying gonadal development of annual cycle can reveal the process of gametogenesis and reproductive period, and evaluate fertility and source utilization of a species. Host sea anemones are conspicuous members of tropical and subtropical reef ecosystems, but little is known about its biology including reproductive seasonality. Here we reported a one-year study on the gametogenesis and reproduction of host sea anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) inhabiting Hong Kong waters. E. quadricolor tissues were sampled in 12 occasions from 5 m and 15 m depths of water, respectively. Histological sectioning of the tissues showed that E. quadricolor was dioecious, and populational ratio of female to male was 1:1.6. The gonadal development was asynchronous within an annual cycle, which included proliferating, growing, maturing, spawning, and resting stages. The spawning occurred between August and October when surface seawater temperature reached the annual maximum (28°C), suggesting that temperature is an important factor modulating the gonadal development and mature of E. quadricolor.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)143-148
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Ocean University of China
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2015

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Oceanography
  • Ocean Engineering

User-Defined Keywords

  • annual cycle
  • Entacmae aquadricolor
  • gonad
  • histology
  • seawater temperature

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