Abstract
Coral reefs globally face significant losses in cover and diversity due to persistent threats. Despite research and conservation efforts, more work is needed for their recovery. Ex situ sexual reproduction and propagation are crucial for increasing genetic diversity, resilience, and coral cover. However, current lab practices involve segregating coral larval settlement by species, which is costly and labor-intensive. Settling larvae from different species together could reduce these hurdles, making coral reproduction in the lab more efficient for research and conservation. To investigate the effects of a multi-species environment, larvae from two coral species (Acropora cervicornis and Orbicella faveolata) were settled on tiles in glass jars divided into three treatment groups. Two treatment groups were controls and contained one of the two species, while the third group had both species settled together. After settlement, survival and growth were tracked for ten weeks. It was found that A. cervicornis settlement was higher in the mixed treatment, but there was no difference for O. faveolata. Additionally, no difference in growth or mortality was shown for either species between treatments. These results suggest that a mixed-species environment holds promise for reducing costs in ex situ coral reproduction and improving settlement rates of A. cervicornis with no negative effects on growth or mortality. Furthermore, these findings have the potential to improve techniques for coral restoration and biodiversity conservation.