Interactive effects of copper and temperature on coral larvae fom the Great Barrier Reef

Gravid colonies of the corals Acropora millepora and Acropora tenuis were collected from Magnetic Island and transported to the outdoor aquaria at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The gametes were collected after spawning and the azooxanthellate larvae were cultured in indoor aquaria at 27°C.Seven day old larvae were added to culture plates containing copper solutions with concentrations of 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 and 64 µg/l and incubated at 27, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34°C under light conditions set at 30 µmol quanta/m²/s. Six replicates were used for each of the 60 treatments.After incubation for 6 hours, larval metamorphosis was initiated by the addition of extracts derived from two species of crustose coralline algae, Neogoniolithon fosliei and Porolithon onkodes. After a further 18 hours, treatments were terminated and larvae fixed for later assessment of settlement and metamorphosis. This research was undertaken to collect data to provide parameters for a model of the effects of temperature and copper contamination on larval metamorphosis.