RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Ciliary propulsion and metachronal coordination in reef coral larvae
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.09.19.508546
DO 10.1101/2022.09.19.508546
A1 Rebecca N. Poon
A1 Timothy A. Westwood
A1 Hannah Laeverenz-Schlogelhofer
A1 Emelie Brodrick
A1 Jamie Craggs
A1 Eric E. Keaveny
A1 Gáspár Jékely
A1 Kirsty Y. Wan
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/09/19/2022.09.19.508546.abstract
AB 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 StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.