asexual vs. sexual reproduction

[Anonymous]

Just a little clarification, please.

*Growth* of the colony is only by asexual reproduction. *New* colonies are started by the settling out of larvae produced by sexual reproduction.

So any settling out of the larvae on the existing colony is purely incidental? Hmm...and probably not very likely given current, ect.

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW...new colonies can also be started from broken frags of existing colonies...

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

Alice,
The only way a colony is going to grow - that is, get bigger, is by budding. The chances of larvae from a colony settling back on the same colony would be so unlikley that it is probably not worth considering. The sperm and eggs are ejected into the water column and will be carried away by currents (if not eaten). I'm not sure how long the larvae stay in the water column but the length of time would not be trivial.

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ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site

 

[Anonymous]

Alice:

Growth of an existing colony is alwyas by asexual reproduction. This is by budding - we will get to this more, and Aquarum corals discusses it, too. Also are various types of asexual reproduction that result in the formation of new daughter colonies, but these are gentically the same as the parent. Only sexual reproduction results in genetically dissimilar colonies, and in the case of hermaphroditic corals that can self-fertilize, only new combinations of the same DNA are possible.

Eric