Immerse a larvae collection container completely into a culture tank. Next, submerge the coral colony into the larvae container, ensuring both remain under water. Then hook the handle of the larvae collection container onto the hanging bar.
The following morning, unhook the fishing line from the hanging bar, and carefully remove one colony from its larvae collection container. Immediately, place the colony back into the culture tank. Next, remove the larvae collection container from the tank and place it on top of the measuring jug.
Apply moderate pressure on the cap using one finger, and unscrew it. Transfer water from the measuring jug into a bowl. Manually, count the larvae in the bowl, using a three-milliliter pipette to transfer them to a 50-milliliter tube.
This method enabled the evaluation of the reproductive output of Pocillopora acuta colonies under different temperature and feeding treatments. Colonies cultured at 28 degrees Celsius, released more larvae when unfed than when fed. But the opposite trend was found in colonies cultured at 24 degrees Celsius, whereby the fed colonies produced more larvae than the unfed colonies.
Reproduction in all the colonies occurred before the full moon. The mean lunar day of larva release ranged from lunar day 6.5 to lunar day 11.1. However, a significant difference among treatments was only observed between the unfed, 28-degrees-Celsius colonies, which produced earlier in the lunar cycle, and the fed, 24-degrees-Celsius colonies, which produced later in the lunar cycle.
