Mass coral spawning
Desove masivo y sincrónico de corales
- Date
- 1981 (publicado en 1984) · confidence high
- Place
- Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia
- Credited to
- Peter Harrison, Russ Babcock, Carden Wallace and colleagues (James Cook University)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
On several nights after the full moon in late spring, dozens of coral species on the Great Barrier Reef release eggs and sperm together, a phenomenon first observed in 1981. It changed the understanding of reef reproduction and biodiversity.
Described in Science in 1984. Spawning had been noted before in the Caribbean, but the multi-species scale on the Great Barrier Reef was the discovery.
What it led to
- reef breeding and restoration with larvae
- studies of hybridisation and speciation in corals
- forecasting spawning timing with the moon and temperature