Number and size of gonads found in monthly samples of Antillogorgia americana colonies at a study site in the San Blas Islands, Panama from July 1990 to August 1991

The reproductive biology of the branching octocoral Antillogorgia americana was studied at a site on the Caribbean coast of Panama in 1990-1991. Eleven colonies were tagged and monthly samples were collected over a 14-month period. Colonies were gonochoric and the samples included 6 females and 4 females. Ten polyps were examined from each sample and the number and size of gonads were determined. An additional 4 branches were sampled from a female colony in January 1991 and fecundity was determined relative to the branch, position of branchlet on the branch, and position of the polyp on the branchlet. The lack of synchrony among colonies on the scale of months may reflect less need for all colonies to spawn in a single event among abundant species that release large numbers of gametes. Such a strategy also spreads the risk of reproductive failure due to environmental conditions during any single month. Multiple spawning episodes can also drive reproductive isolation of populations and may reflect the presence of cryptic species within the taxon. Studies of reproductive timing can be an important adjunct in identifying variation in life history strategies as well as assessing the validity of species boundaries.

This dataset includes the number and size of gonads found in monthly samples of each of 11 A. americana colonies.

1990至1991年间，研究人员于巴拿马加勒比海沿岸的一处调查站点，针对分枝状八放珊瑚（octocoral）美洲安提哥珊瑚（Antillogorgia americana）的生殖生物学特征开展了系统研究。本研究共标记11个珊瑚群落，并在14个月的周期内按月采集样本。该珊瑚为雌雄异体（gonochoric）物种，本次采集的样本涵盖6个雌性群落与4个雌性群落。研究人员从每份样本中选取10个水螅体（polyp）进行解剖观察，测定了其生殖腺（gonad）的数量与尺寸。1991年1月，研究人员额外从一个雌性珊瑚群落中采集了4个分枝，并基于分枝、小枝在分枝上的分布位置以及水螅体在小枝上的分布位置，评估了该群落的繁殖力（fecundity）。各珊瑚群落之间不存在以月为尺度的生殖同步性，这一现象或许反映出：对于这类可释放大量配子的广布物种而言，无需所有群落均在单次排精产卵事件中保持同步。此类策略同时也可分散因单月环境波动导致生殖失败的风险。多次排精产卵事件还可推动不同种群间的生殖隔离，亦可能反映出该分类群（taxon）内存在隐存物种（cryptic species）。生殖时间的相关研究，既可作为识别生活史策略变异的重要辅助手段，也可用于评估物种边界的有效性。
本数据集包含11个美洲安提哥珊瑚群落的月度样本中所观测到的生殖腺数量与尺寸信息。