Acropora cervicornis have suffered massive mortalities in the Caribbean, and decades later are yet to recover. Coral recruitment through larval settlement is critical for the recovery of this species. Currently, there is little information available regarding the requirements for the settlement and post-settlement survival of A. cervicornis, and the mechanisms by which larvae are induced to settle are poorly understood. We determined the rates of larval settlement and early survival in the presence of five crustose coralline algae (CCA) species and tested the effect of CCA chemical compounds and the physical structure of the algae on larval settlement. Settlement on CCA was higher (20–38%) compared to the negative control (sterilized seawater, 9%). Settlement also occurred in the absence of CCA, indicating that larvae settlement might be induced by bacterial biofilms. Settlement of A. cervicornis on CCA under controlled conditions is low compared to other Acropora species, and this may have implications for its recovery. There was a direct relationship between settlement and survival; higher survival was associated to the most inductive CCA species (i.e., Hydrolithon boergesenii 67% and Titanoderma prototypum 50%), while striking mortality was observed in presence of Neogoniolithon sp. (100%), which may be related to allelopathy or tissue sloughing. More larvae attached to substrates with CCA extract (52%) than in the negative control (4%). We conclude that settlement of A. cervicornis is initiated by chemical compounds present in CCA, and A. cervicornis prefers CCA species which favor post-settlement survival.

Acropora cervicornis在加勒比地区遭受了大量死亡，几十年后仍未恢复。通过幼虫定居来招募珊瑚对于该物种的恢复至关重要。目前，关于A. cervicornis的定居和定居后生存要求的信息很少，并且对幼虫被诱导定居的机制知之甚少。我们确定了存在五种甲壳珊瑚藻 (CCA) 物种的幼虫沉降率和早期存活率，并测试了 CCA 化合物和藻类的物理结构对幼虫沉降的影响。与阴性对照（无菌海水，9%）相比，CCA 的沉降率更高（20-38%）。在没有 CCA 的情况下也发生沉降，表明幼虫沉降可能是由细菌生物膜诱导的。与其他Acropora相比，在受控条件下A. cervicornis在 CCA 上的沉降率较低物种，这可能对其恢复产生影响。定居与生存之间存在直接关系；较高的存活率与最具诱导性的 CCA 物种相关（即Hydrolithon boergesenii 67% 和Titanoderma prototypum 50%），而在Neogoniolithon sp存在下观察到惊人的死亡率。(100%)，这可能与化感作用或组织脱落有关。与阴性对照 (4%) 相比，更多的幼虫附着在带有 CCA 提取物的基质上 (52%)。我们得出结论，A. cervicornis 的沉降是由 CCA 中存在的化合物引发的，并且A. cervicornis更喜欢有利于定居后生存的 CCA 物种。