Japanese Sea Coral Can Change Sex in Order to Survive Global Warming

Researchers in Israel have discovered that Japanese sea corals engage in sex switching. Similar to species of trees and more famously, most species of reef fish, female Japanese sea corals (scientifically known as fungiid coral) switch their sex so that the majority are male. This seems to be due to male fungiid coral’s better ability to handle the stresses brought on by resource scarcity.

Since over a quarter of the world’s coral reefs have already become damaged due to increasing sea temperatures, understanding how fungiids are able to become primarily male may provide researchers with alternative reproduction strategies. 

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“One of the evolutionary strategies that some corals use to survive seems to be their ability to change from female to male,” says Tel Aviv University Professor Loya. “As males, they can pass through the bad years, then, when circumstances become more favorable, change back to overt females. Being a female takes more energy. And having the ability to change gender periodically enables a species to maximize its reproductive effort.

We believe, as with orchids and some trees, sex change in corals increases their overall fitness, reinforcing the important role of reproductive plasticity in determining their evolutionary success.

This knowledge can help coral breeders. Fungiid corals are a hardy coral variety which can be grown in captivity. Once you know its mode of reproduction, we can grow hundreds of thousands of them.

When the times get tough, and for corals they have, it is of some comfort to know some species will be able to adapt and probably survive through the upcoming challenging circumstances.

Image: NOAA, as public domain

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