Coral hybrids are known to occur in nature. They form when the eggs of one species are fertilised by the sperm of another and can result in corals that are hardier to some pressures.
Work over the past few years has demonstrated that first generation coral hybrids are as fit or fitter than at least one of their parents under simulated future ocean conditions in the laboratory.
This project will cross different corals species to create interspecific hybrids with the aim to increase coral climate resilience.
The hybrid and purebred larvae will be settled in the SeaSim and subsequently deployed on the Great Barrier Reef to assess the relative fitness of hybrids and purebreds in the field.
Hybrids bred in the SeaSim in 2015 have grown well and may spawn. If they do, we will test whether they are reproductively viable and can produce second generation hybrids and/or can backcross with their parents.
