The vast majority of scleractinian corals are either simultaneous hermaphrodites or gonochoric. Exceptions to these are rare. Nevertheless, species belonging to the family Fungiidae are known to exhibit a wide variety of reproductive strategies. We examined the reproductive ecology of the mushroom coral Fungia fungites in Okinawa. Our study was conducted as part of a long-term, wide-ranging project (2009–2010 and 2013–2017) which explored the unique reproductive strategies of several species belonging to the family Fungiidae. Here we report the co-occurrence of males, females, and hermaphrodite individuals in a long-term monitored population of the reproductively atypical brooder coral F. fungites within the family Fungiidae. F. fungites status as a single-polyped solitary coral, was used to perform manipulative experiments to determine the degree of dependence of an individual coral on its conspecific neighbors for reproduction, and examined whether a constant sperm supply is obligatory for the continuous production of planulae. Isolated females of F. fungites exhibited a distinctive reproductive strategy, expressed in continuously releasing planulae also in the absence of males. Observations conducted on a daily basis for 2.5 months (throughout the reproductive season of 2015) revealed that some of these individuals released planulae continuously, often between tens and hundreds every day. In an effort to explain this phenomenon, three hypotheses are discussed: (1) Self-fertilization; (2) Asexual production of planulae (i.e., parthenogenetic larvae); and (3) Extended storage of sperm. Finally, we emphasize the importance of continuous and long-term monitoring of studies of coral reproduction; through further genetic studies of coral populations representing a broad range of species and their larval origin.

中文翻译：

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蘑菇珊瑚真菌的独特繁殖策略

绝大多数的石珊瑚要么是同时雌雄同体，要么是淋病。这些例外是罕见的。然而，已知属于真菌科的物种表现出多种繁殖策略。我们研究了冲绳蘑菇珊瑚真菌真菌的生殖生态。我们的研究是作为长期、广泛的项目（2009-2010 和 2013-2017）的一部分进行的，该项目探索了属于真菌科的几个物种的独特繁殖策略。在这里，我们报告了雄性、雌性和雌雄同体个体在真菌科家族内生殖非典型育雏珊瑚 F.真菌的长期监测种群中的共同出现。F. 真菌作为单息肉珊瑚的地位，被用来进行操作实验，以确定单个珊瑚对其同种邻居繁殖的依赖程度，并检查恒定的精子供应是否是连续产生浮游生物的必要条件。F. 真菌的孤立雌性表现出独特的繁殖策略，表现为在没有雄性的情况下也不断释放浮游菌。连续 2.5 个月（整个 2015 年的生殖季节）每天进行的观察表明，其中一些个体不断地释放浮游生物，通常每天有数十到数百个。为了解释这种现象，我们讨论了三个假设：（1）自我受精；(2)无性繁殖浮游生物（即孤雌生殖幼虫）；(3) 延长精子储存期。最后，我们强调对珊瑚繁殖研究进行持续和长期监测的重要性；通过对代表广泛物种及其幼虫来源的珊瑚种群的进一步遗传研究。