Abstract:
Cauliflower coral, Pocillopora damicornis, has two reproductive modes: sexual and asexual reproduction. Moreover, there were reports on its parthenogenetic larvae. The proportions of sexual and asexual larvae were dependent on locations, environments and colony sizes. This study was focusing on the reproductive modes in cauliflower coral, P. damicornis. The genotyping of total 9 brood colonies and 276 larvae (31±2.52 larvae per brooder), collected from Khao Maa Cho, Sattahip, Chon Buri, were carried out using 5 polymorphic microsatellite loci. The results revealed that there were 5 brood colonies (55.56 %) producing asexual or parthenogenetic larvae and 4 brood colonies (44.44 %) producing sexual larvae, in whichthe sexual larvae from 3 brood colonies were produced via a single mating and 1 colony was produced by multiple mating. The results suggested that the recruitment of the populations could be supplied by both asexual and sexual larvae. These two reproductive modes could play an important role in the maintenance of genetic diversity and fitness of the populations in the area. The knowledge of the reproductive modes in P. damicornis is the major information to enhance the efficiency of conservative planning for this coral species in this area.