ABSTRACT Most reef-building corals are hermaphroditic and discharge buoyant bundles that contain a mixture of eggs and spermatozoa during the breeding season. The buoyancy of the bundles is due to wax-esters. This study analysed and compared the lipid compositions in eight species of corals. Overall, 60–80% of the total lipid composition of the eggs or embryos of six species, Acropora digitifera, A. florida, A. monticulosa, Dipsastraea lizardensis, Ctenactis echinata, and Pseudosiderastrea tayamai that discharged buoyant eggs was wax-esters. Although Galaxea fascicularis is a dioecious coral, the bundle released from males (or hermaphrodites) contained spermatozoa and pseudo-eggs. Both eggs and pseudo-eggs contained high amounts of wax-esters. In contrast, the wax-ester content in sedimenting eggs released from Oulastrea crispata was very low. Thus, this study confirmed the presence of wax-esters in buoyant egg bundles. This suggests that wax-esters play a role in the dispersal and settlement potential of planula larvae in corals.

中文翻译：

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石珊瑚中配子的脂质组成：蜡酯为配子产生浮力

摘要 大多数造礁珊瑚是雌雄同体的，在繁殖季节排出含有卵和精子混合物的浮力束。束的浮力是由于蜡酯。本研究分析并比较了八种珊瑚的脂质成分。总体而言，六种物种的卵或胚胎总脂质成分的 60-80% 是蜡酯，这些物种包括鹿角、佛罗里达 A. monticulosa、Dipsastraea lizardensis、Ctenactis echinata 和 Pseudosiderastrea tayamai。尽管Galaxea fascicularis 是一种雌雄异株的珊瑚，但从雄性（或雌雄同体）释放的珊瑚束中含有精子和假卵。鸡蛋和假鸡蛋都含有大量的蜡酯。相比之下，Oulastrea crista 释放的沉淀卵中的蜡酯含量非常低。因此，这项研究证实了漂浮的蛋束中存在蜡酯。这表明蜡酯在珊瑚中浮游生物幼虫的扩散和沉降潜力中发挥作用。