We plan to collect corals from the north shore reef, bleach them, and then allow them to recover in filtered seawater while exposed to different coral-eating fish feces treatments. We will monitor survival, rate of recovery, and what symbiotic algae types they recover with. We will also collect coral eggs and sperm during Acropora coral spawning events and then expose coral babies in filtered seawater to feces from these same coral-eating fish. We will monitor how quickly the coral babies acquire symbiotic algae, their growth rates, survival, and what symbiotic algae types they acquire. We will place some of these coral babies out on the reef (attached to rebar) for up to 6 months to monitor their long term growth and survival. At the end of this period, the coral babies will be removed from the reef and sampled to determine their symbiotic algae types.

Approved