@article{Marín-Moraga_Chacón-Guzmán_Méndez-Venegas_Hernández-Mora_Cortés_2023, title={Ex situ culture of coral species Porites lobata (Scleractinia: Poritidae) and Pocillopora damicornis (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae), Costa Rica: first assessment and implications}, volume={71}, url={https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/54926}, DOI={10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS1.54926}, abstractNote={<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Introduction: </strong></span>Coral reefs worldwide-decline has prompted coral restoration as a viable strategy to rewild vulnerable, foundational coral species. Stony corals are now propagated by the thousands in both in-water and <span class="s1"><em>ex situ </em></span>(land-based) coral nurseries, the latter being unexplored in Costa Rica, despite their potential benefits as a reef management tool.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Objective:</strong></span> To analyze the viability of <span class="s1"><em>ex situ</em></span> culturing of the Pacific reef-building corals <span class="s1"><em>Porites lobata </em></span>and <span class="s1"><em>Pocillopora damicornis</em></span> at Parque Marino del Pacífico (PMP), Puntarenas, Costa Rica, aquaculture facilities. <span class="s1"><strong>Methods:</strong></span> From May to October 2018 a total of 180 coral fragments were kept in an aquaculture recirculated system. Survival, growth, and fragment yield in relation to culture medium (physicochemical parameters) were recorded.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Results:</strong></span> Survival and growth rate varied between species and culture tanks. On average, surviving <span class="s1"><em>P. lobata</em></span> fragments (68.89 %) placed in Tank 1 (T1) grew 216 %, while fragments placed in Tank 2 (T2) had a survival rate of 71.11 % and an increase of 277 % in live tissue area.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span><span class="s1"><em>P. damicornis</em></span> fragments survival, basal and crown area percentage increase were: 71.11 %, 980 % and 366 % in T1, and 100 %, 976 % and 287 % in T2. Although fragments survival and growth were net positive, the yield in terms of culture was low, due to culture conditions in the tanks not meeting coral culture optimal requirements.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Conclusions:</strong></span> Survival and growth of both species varied depending on the tank in which they were placed. Survival was similar to that found in other <span class="s1"><em>ex situ</em></span> studies and growth was similar to those reported in the wild, however culture performance in terms of yield was low. Aquaculture systems at PMP constitute a good base for the cultivation of corals, however for the culture effort to achieve maximum yield, current systems must be optimized according to the requirements of the target coral species.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>}, number={S1}, journal={Revista de Biología Tropical}, author={Marín-Moraga, José A. and Chacón-Guzmán, Jonathan and Méndez-Venegas, Mauricio and Hernández-Mora, Ronny A. and Cortés, Jorge}, year={2023}, month={May}, pages={e54926} }