Florida aquarium scientists claim major breakthrough by successfully recreating Elkhorn coral

Researchers working in Florida Aquarium Coral Conservation Program announced a significant breakthrough in the Florida Keys Reef Tract’s coral-saving efforts — the planet’s third-largest reef, which stretches more than 350 miles along Florida’s southeast coast. Scientists say they have used aquarium technology to successfully reproduce elkhorn coral, an important species that is notoriously difficult to grow in the lab.

“This is an important step toward preventing the elkhorn coral from going extinct in Florida,” said Keri O’Neil, senior scientist overseeing the Tampa Aquarium’s reproduction lab. Elkhorn coral once dominated the Caribbean, but now it is rarely seen alive in the wild. O’Neil estimates that there are only about 300 elkhorn corals left in the Florida Keys Reef Tract. However, she hopes that up to 100 of the thousands of baby corals created in the breeding experiment can survive to adulthood.

O’Neil said her team has faced a lot of criticism from other researchers who suspect corals can reproduce in the lab. Last year, the program set out to create a perfectly controlled environment for elk coral to breed — this happens only once a year — by using LEDs to accurately simulate the sunrise, sunset and moon cycles. When the corals weren’t spawning, the team realized that the moon’s timing was off by “about three hours.” After making that adjustment, in August this year, scientists saw the baby coral for the first time under a microscope.

This breakthrough is significant for the larger restoration effort, which includes a large number of partner conservation organizations and groups in the region. The work opens up the possibility of selecting corals for recovery with specific properties that allow reefs to become more resilient to threats related to warmer ocean temperatures, disease and other impacts. other environmental stressors. However, the researchers stress that the ultimate problem that needs to be addressed is the climate crisis. “We are buying time for the reef. We are buying time for the corals,” said O’Neil. “There is hope for coral reefs. Don’t give up hope. All is not lost. However, we need to make serious changes in our behavior to save the planet.”

Microscopic image of baby corals spawning at Florida Aquarium