Heterotrophy in recruits of the scleractinian coral <i>Pocillopora damicornis</i>

Heterotrophy is essential for meeting the metabolic requirements of scleractinian corals but the feeding mechanisms of coral juveniles are poorly understood. In this study, we observed that two-day-old <i>Pocillopora damicornis</i> recruits were able to immobilize and capture <i>Artemia salina</i> nauplii that come into direct contact with their tentacles. The recruits were able to consume up to six nauplii h⁻¹ and the shortest time required to fully ingest one nauplius was 1 min 25 s. This is the first study to describe the feeding mechanisms employed by coral recruits, and provided both observational and quantitative evidence to show that coral juveniles are able to commence heterotrophy at an early stage.异养（heterotrophy）对于满足石珊瑚（scleractinian corals）的代谢需求至关重要，但目前学界对珊瑚幼体的摄食机制仍知之甚少。本研究观察到，两日龄的鹿角杯形珊瑚（*Pocillopora damicornis*）附着幼体，可对直接接触其触手的卤虫（Artemia salina）无节幼体进行麻痹并捕获。该幼体的最大摄食速率可达每小时6只无节幼体，且完全吞食单只无节幼体所需的最短时长为1分25秒。本研究首次描述了珊瑚附着幼体所采用的摄食机制，并提供了观测与定量证据，证明珊瑚幼体可在发育早期启动异养过程。