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Ciliary propulsion and metachronal coordination in reef coral larvae

Rebecca N. Poon1, Timothy A. Westwood2, Hannah Laeverenz-Schlogelhofer1, Emelie Brodrick1, Jamie Craggs3,2, Eric E. Keaveny1, Gáspár Jékely1, and Kirsty Y. Wan1,*

  • 1Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
  • 2Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 3Horniman Museum and Gardens, London SE23 3PQ, United Kingdom

  • *k.y.wan2@exeter.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042037 – Published 11 December, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L042037

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 a 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 organization into diaplectic (transversely propagating) metachronal waves. We resolve the individual cilium's beat dynamics and compare the resulting flows with a computational model of a dense ciliary array, and evaluate the efficiency of flow pumping associated with diaplectic metachronism in different regimes.

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042037– Published 11 December, 2023
  • Received 19 September 2022
  • Revised 12 July 2023
  • Accepted 30 October 2023
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