Scleractinian coral recruitment patterns at Salt River submarine Canyon, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Scleractinian coral recruitment patterns were studied at depths of 9, 18, 27 and 37 m on the east and west walls of Salt River submarine canyon, St. Croix, by censusing coral juveniles which settled on experimental settling plates placed on the reef for 3-26 months as well as coral juveniles within...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 1984-10, Vol.3 (2), p.69-76
Main Authors: ROGERS, C. S, FITZ, H. CIII, GILNACK, M, BEETS, J, HARDIN, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Demecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Marine
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Summary:Scleractinian coral recruitment patterns were studied at depths of 9, 18, 27 and 37 m on the east and west walls of Salt River submarine canyon, St. Croix, by censusing coral juveniles which settled on experimental settling plates placed on the reef for 3-26 months as well as coral juveniles within quadrats on the reef. A total of 271 corals settled on 342 plates, with 51% of the juveniles on the east wall and 49% on the west wall. Based on results from quadrats, Agaricia agaricites and Porites astreoides had high recruitment rates relative to their abundance on the reef. In contrast, Agricia lamarki, Montastraea annularis, M. cavernosa and Siderastrea siderea had high amounts of cover compared to their abundance as juveniles within quadrats.
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/bf00263756