While reproduction in deep-sea corals remains incompletely understood, there is a particularly crucial shortage of information related to corals living in deep waters of the Arctic Ocean. In the present study, colonies of the deep-sea pennatulacean coral Umbellula encrinus were collected in Baffin Bay (High Canadian Arctic) at bathyal depths between 2006 and 2010. From examination of gamete sizes, maturity levels and densities at several time points, U. encrinus was determined to be a gonochoric species with an equal sex ratio and a broadcast-spawning strategy. Fully mature oocytes measured between 800 and 950 μm in diameter, consistent with lecithotrophic larval development. Potential fecundity was ~4200 mature oocytes colony⁻¹ and ~5300 mature spermatocysts colony⁻¹. Gametogenesis was synchronous between sexes; a single main cohort of oocytes and spermatocysts was seen to increase in size throughout the year. Gametogenetically mature colonies were detected in late June during the earliest possible spring samplings. Spent colonies were detected in July and August. Early stages of gametogenesis appeared in early September shortly after the spawning months and more advanced growth stages occurred in late September and early November, after which time sampling was prevented by ice cover. The spawning season in U. encrinus appears to occur once a year, closely following the disappearance of the ice cover, when chlorophyll-a in Baffin Bay increases. The initiation of gametogenesis coincides with a period of sustained phytoplankton production and continues until the entire bay freezes over in fall. Since mature gametes were found in both male and female colonies just after the spring melt, gamete maturation likely continues under the ice. Both depth and latitude were shown to impact gamete development and fecundity in U. encrinus, with more advanced and fertile colonies occurring in deeper water and at higher latitudes.

尽管对深海珊瑚的繁殖仍未完全了解，但与生活在北冰洋深水区的珊瑚有关的信息特别短缺。在本研究中，2006年至2010年之间，在深海水域的Baffin湾（加拿大高北极地区）收集了深海的半角珊瑚coral虫的殖民地。通过考察配子体的大小，成熟度和在几个时间点的密度，U。 encrinus被确定为具有相等性别比和广播产卵策略的淋病物种。完全成熟的卵母细胞，直径介于800至950μm之间，与卵形营养幼虫发育一致。潜在的繁殖力是〜4200个成熟卵母细胞集落^-1和〜5300个成熟的精子囊集落^-1。配子发生在两性之间是同步的。观察到一个主要的卵母细胞和精囊肿的队列在一年中增加了。在最早的春季采样中，在6月下旬检测到具有配子体发育成熟的菌落。在7月和8月发现了用过的菌落。配子发生的早期阶段出现在产卵后不久的9月初，更高级的生长阶段发生在9月下旬和11月初，此后由于冰盖作用阻止了采样。在产卵季节U. encrinus出现时叶绿素发生一年一次，冰盖消失，密切关注一在巴芬湾（Baffin Bay）增加。配子发生的开始与浮游植物持续生产的时期相吻合，一直持续到整个海湾在秋天冻结为止。由于春季融化后在雄性和雌性菌落中均发现了成熟的配子，因此配子的成熟很可能在冰下继续进行。深度和纬度都显示出对U的配子发育和繁殖力的影响，在更深的水域和更高的纬度上出现了更先进和肥沃的菌落。