The Effect of Feeding on Briareum violacea Growth, Survival and Larval Development under Temperature and Salinity Stress

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Coral reefs are rich in biodiversity. In recent years, the greenhouse effect and heavy rain have threatened the growth and survival of corals. Previous research mainly discussed the harm caused by changes in temperature and salinity to corals. No research has explored effective methods to prevent coral bleaching and death. This study initially found that feeding can promote corals to survive stress response, prevent bleaching or death caused by temperature or salinity changes and significantly improve the number of eggs laid, larval settlement and juvenile development. At present, this technology has been applied to the large-scale production of Briareum violacea in coral farms to prevent coral deaths caused by changes in temperature and salinity. In addition, this is very important for the sustainable development of coral reefs. ABSTRACT: In recent years, climate change has often caused fluctuations in seawater salinity and temperature, which threaten the survival and growth of corals. Effectively improving the stress response to temperature and salinity changes in corals to prevent bleaching is one of the important issues. This study initially explored the use of artificial polyunsaturated fatty acids to assess the ability of Briareum violacea to slow bleaching, enhance growth, stabilize larval development and reduce antistress factors (superoxide dismutase and catalase) when they were exposed to temperature and salinity stress. The salinities used in the experiment were 25, 30, 35 and 40 psu, and the temperatures were 20, 25 and 30 °C. It was divided into two parts: Experiment 1—Effects of temperature and salinity and feeding on digestive enzymes, reproduction and stress response of B. violacea; Experiment 2—Effects of temperature and salinity and feeding on the settlement and survival of larvae. The results showed that the feeding treatment group reduced the superoxide dismutase, catalase and mortality of corals under stress and significantly improved larval development and larval settlement.