Abstract
Coral restoration programs in Florida have expanded to include species with massive colony morphologies; however, predation by corallivorous fish has emerged as a significant bottleneck to their success. To address this, two 8-week trials were conducted using Diploria labyrinthiformis, Pseudodiploria clivosa, and Pseudodiploria strigosa. In both trials, 44 colonies of each species were outplanted on bases with physical predation deterrents with protection provided for two, four, or six weeks at a reef site in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. The sites exhibited stark differences in predation occurrence and intensity, greatly affecting mortality. Corals in Trial 1 experienced 31% mortality (41 colonies) while corals in Trial 2 only experienced 0.75% mortality (one P. clivosa colony). In Trial 1, mortality was not evenly distributed between the species, 45% of P. clivosa and D. labyrinthiformis colonies died from predation, while only 2.25% (one colony) of P. strigosa experienced mortality from predation. Protection schedule had a significant effect on predation intensity at all monitoring points post-outplanting. It was determined that 4 to 6 weeks of physical protection from fish predation led to decreased mortality and tissue loss in outplanted corals and is recommended as the optimal duration to leave physical protections on new outplants.