been thoroughly investigated, and the available information
can help to predict how corals respond to water flow
changes (Sebens 1984; Sebenset al.1997; Finelliet al.2006;
Schutter et al. 2010, 2011; Wijgerde et al. 2012c). The
increase in flow speed will maximize the particle delivery
rates to the coral surface. However, particle capture efficiency often decreases with increasing flow (Piniak 2002).
Therefore, particle capture rates are often highest at intermediate flow speeds, where particle delivery rate is high,
but coral polyps are still capable of retaining food particles.
There are also species-specific differences as branching and
cylindrical coral species increase food capture with increasing flow. In contrast, flat coral species, such as the plate
coralMontiporasp., show no effect of flow speed on particle capture (Kaandorp & Kubler 2001).