Intra-colonial diversity in the scleractinian coral,

Scleractinian corals are colonial organisms comprising multiple physiologically integrated polyps and branches. Colonialism in corals is highly beneficial, and allows a single colony to undergo several life processes at once through physiological integration and compartmentalised functioning. Elucidating differences in the biochemical composition of intra-colonial branch positions will provide valuable insight into the nutritional reserves underlying different regions in individual coral colonies. This will also ascertain prudent harvesting strategies of wild donor-colonies to generate coral stock with high survival and vigour prospects for reef-rehabilitation efforts and captive husbandry. This study examined the effects of colony branch position on the nutritional profile of two different colony sizes of the common scleractinian,