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Ciliary propulsion and metachronal coordination in reef coral larvae

Rebecca N. Poon, Timothy A. Westwood, Hannah Laeverenz-Schlogelhofer, Emelie Brodrick, Jamie Craggs, Eric E. Keaveny, Gáspár Jékely, View ORCID ProfileKirsty Y. Wan
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.19.508546
Rebecca N. Poon
1Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
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Timothy A. Westwood
2Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
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Hannah Laeverenz-Schlogelhofer
1Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
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Emelie Brodrick
1Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
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Jamie Craggs
3Horniman Museum and Gardens, London, SE23 3PQ, United Kingdom
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Eric E. Keaveny
2Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
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Gáspár Jékely
1Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
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Kirsty Y. Wan
1Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
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  • ORCID record for Kirsty Y. Wan
  • For correspondence: k.y.wan2@exeter.ac.uk
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Abstract

Larval dispersal is critical to the survival of coral reefs. As the only motile stage of the reproductive cycle, coral larvae choose a suitable location to settle and mature into adult corals. Here, we present the first detailed study of ciliary propulsion in the common stony reef coral Acropora millepora. Using high-speed, high-resolution imaging, particle image velocimetry, and electron microscopy, we reveal the arrangement of the densely packed cilia over the larval body surface, and their organisation into diaplectic (transversely propagating) metachronal waves. We resolve the individual-cilium’s beat dynamics and compare the resultant flows with a computational model of a ciliary array, and show that this form of ciliary metachronism leads to near-maximal pumping efficiency.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted September 19, 2022.
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Ciliary propulsion and metachronal coordination in reef coral larvae
Rebecca N. Poon, Timothy A. Westwood, Hannah Laeverenz-Schlogelhofer, Emelie Brodrick, Jamie Craggs, Eric E. Keaveny, Gáspár Jékely, Kirsty Y. Wan
bioRxiv 2022.09.19.508546; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.19.508546
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Ciliary propulsion and metachronal coordination in reef coral larvae
Rebecca N. Poon, Timothy A. Westwood, Hannah Laeverenz-Schlogelhofer, Emelie Brodrick, Jamie Craggs, Eric E. Keaveny, Gáspár Jékely, Kirsty Y. Wan
bioRxiv 2022.09.19.508546; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.19.508546

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