Abstract Summary
Microfragmentation is a technique recently developed to accelerate the growth of coral colonies in culture, through cuts of less than 1 cm², with high regenerative capacity. The production of microfragments of the same genotype allows the fusion during their growth, which offers an advantage to increase their size and share resources, which results in greater competitiveness to occupy space and increase their reproductive capacity. The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute of Mexico (INAPESCA) currently maintains a standardized production of 1,000 microfragments per month of the massive coral Orbicella annularis, with an initial size between 1cm² to 4cm² of irregular surface, which reach their sizes of 2cm² to 6cm² in 4 months, achieving an increase of its initial area. In order to maximize tissue production in 8x8 cm plates, an experimental design was implemented to evaluate tissue accumulation based on 3 different arrangements that vary in the number of microfragments, distance between fragments and their distribution. These factors were considered for 2 different genotypes and the effect of the perimeter cut is evaluated as a strategy to enhance their growth. To calculate the area and volume, 3D models were created using photogrammetry, using a Nikon Coolpix W300 camera and the Agisoft photoscan V 1.1.6 software. Initial monitoring was carried out on day 1, at 15 days and subsequently every month. The tissue accumulation curves are obtained to evaluate the coating rates in the different arrangements. The improvement of these techniques will allow to change the way of implementing the restoration actions in the reefs, since it will be possible to produce massive colonies from artificial substrates in a much shorter time than the natural ones, and even accelerate the time of sexual maturation, as well as rescue skeletons that, when covered with fabric, can continue contributing to reef accretion.
