Feeding increases the number of offspring but decreases parental investment of Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata

1. Successful reproductive output and recruitment is crucial to coral persistence and recovery following anthropogenic stress. Feeding is known to alter coral physiology and increase resilience to bleaching. 2. The goal of the study was to address the knowledge gap of the influence of feeding on reproductive output and offspring phenotype. 3. Colonies of Stylophora pistillata from the Northern Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) were fed an Artemia diet or unfed for five months during gametogenesis, fertilisation, and brooding. In addition, time to settlement and mortality of planulae were assessed at water temperatures ranging from winter temperature (22°C) to three degrees above average peak summer temperature (31°C). A range of physiological parameters were measured in parents and offspring. 4. In brooding parents, feeding significantly increased protein concentration and more than tripled the number of released planulae. Planulae from unfed colonies had higher chlorophyll per symbiont concentra...