The Hybridization Of Reef Corals

In an important paper published a few months back in the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Willis et al. (2006) report that "on tropical coral reefs, the simultaneous mass spawning of many species of stony corals represents a unique breeding strategy among animals and suggests that hybridization might have played a role in the evolution of this functionally important group," which they describe as "the cornerstone of the coral reef ecosystem," which they say is "increasingly threatened by human and climate-related impacts." They also note that "an upsurge of studies on the reproduction of scleractinian corals has shown that synchronized spawning among more than two species occurs in the majority of reef regions," and that "in highly synchronized events, up to 35 species in sympatry may spawn within two hours of each other."...