circulation systems without natural sunlight and moonlight. Spawning occurs in nature at the physiological temperature limits of corals, which, when simulated under
aquaculture conditions, may lead to negative effects such as
the outbreak of temperature-induced diseases as reported
by Gil-Agudeloet al. (2004). The controlled induction of
spawning is currently one of the greatest challenges for the
application of sexual reproduction of broadcast spawners
in aquaculture. However, gametes can be relatively easily
collected during natural spawning events, either in situ
from wild corals at the reef or ex situ, from wild colonies
placed in culture tanks on site a few days prior to spawning.
Another viable option is to cryopreserve gametes and use
them for later fertilization (Hagedornet al.2006)