Fig. 2.

Survival and growth of A. palmata juveniles reared from cryopreserved sperm. Photographs of (A–D) 1- and (E–H) 6-mo-old juvenile colonies of the coral A. palmata, reared from cryopreserved (FT) or fresh sperm crossed with freshly collected eggs from Curaçao (n = 5 dams). FT sperm was collected in Florida (FL, n = 2 sires), Puerto Rico (PR, n = 5 sires), and Curaçao (CUR, n = 6 sires). Fresh sperm from Curaçao was used for comparison (n = 4 or 5 sires, depending on spawning night) (Scale bars, 1 cm). (A and E) CUR×FL (FT sperm), (B and F) CUR×PR (FT sperm), (C and G) CUR×CUR (FT sperm), and (D and H) CUR×CUR (Fresh sperm). Due to their conservation value, the interpopulation (AGF) juveniles (A, B, E, and F) were given increased care and more space per juvenile beginning at the time of settlement. White areas around the juveniles are spaces where the coral inhibited encroaching coralline algae or coralline algae was removed to facilitate coral growth. No differences were apparent between the four cohorts in juvenile polyp morphology or colony growth pattern. (I) Survival of juveniles by cohort at 1 and 6 mo after settlement (n = 233 to 3,577 initial settlers per cohort at n = 2 separate rearing facilities; data were pooled across facilities to determine overall survival at each time point). The overall higher survival of the interpopulation (AGF) juveniles reflects the greater care directed to these cohorts due to their conservation value (SI Appendix, Table S4).