Ronnie Braithwaite

Focus of Research The project explored the effect that feeding has on the growth of the open brain coral Other characteristics of the coral were observed such as the color and tentacles Research on the correlation between the number of mouths and the growth of open brain coral was minimal The majority of research was focused on eating habits and growth of open brain coral

Taxonomy Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cnidaria Class: Anthozoa Order: Scleractinia Family: Trachyphylliidae Genus: Trachyphyllia Species: T. geoffroyi

Background Information Polyps are fleshy. When tentacles are retracted during the day a large mantle extends well beyond the perimeter of the skeleton. This retracts if disturbed. At night tentacles in several rows are extended from the expanded oral disc inside the mantle. (“Corals of the Worldonline”:2001) The polyps of Open Brain Coral inflate considerably in size with water, about two to three inches beyond its skeleton, during the daytime (FreshMarine.com: Open Brain Coral )

Background Information (Cont.) Open Brain Corals derive their nutrition chiefly through photosynthesis which is performed by zooxanthellae, a photosynthetic alga living symbiotically within the coral (FreshMarine.com: Open Brain Coral ) Open Brain Corals are said to be one of the easiest species to care for and is best for beginners

How it came about? Originally, the project was to compare frozen food with live food Feeding vs no feeding was a more practical experiment After reading research, I proposed these questions…

Questions Does the Trachyphyllida geoffryoi grow faster/slower from feeding on frozen foods versus live foods? Does the Trachyphyllida geoffryoi grow faster/slower from feeding on larger sized foods versus smaller sized foods? Does the Trachyphyllida geoffryoi grow faster/slower when fed only at night versus only during the day. What are the possible lurking variables or extraneous variables that make measuring coral growth difficult? How is the Open Brain Coral growth affected when fed dietary supplements like Iodine, Strontium and Magnesium? Does increased quantity and frequency of feeding cause the Open Brain Coral to grow faster?

Hypothesis Feeding the Brain Coral colonies will cause them to grow faster and as a result produce more mouths than without feeding them. This hypothesis was created based off extensive research on the feeding habits of open brain coral the growth and reproduction of the open brain coral sources of nutrition the structural features and morphology

Methods: The Plan The polyps of open brain coral inflate considerably in size with water so instead of measuring growth of the open brain coral by changed in size, the number of mouths on the open brain coral were counted daily For the first nine weeks, the corals were not fed and data was collected For the remaining twelve weeks, corals were fed frozen Cyclop-eeze Mysis shrimp and data was collected One cube was dispersed in R/O water and fed to the corals twice a week

Methods: Data Collection Counting the mouths of corals at the end of February LBC, MBC, SBC Tentacles Extended? Fed Today? Color? Salinity? Temperature

Tentacles non-Extended vs Tentacles Extended

Close-up

Answers? Does the Trachyphyllida geoffryoi grow faster/slower from feeding on frozen foods versus live foods? Does the Trachyphyllida geoffryoi grow faster/slower from feeding on larger sized foods versus smaller sized foods? Does the Trachyphyllida geoffryoi grow faster/slower when fed only at night versus only during the day. What are the possible lurking variables or extraneous variables that make measuring coral growth difficult? How is the Open Brain Coral growth affected when fed dietary supplements like Iodine, Strontium and Magnesium? Does increased quantity and frequency of feeding cause the Open Brain Coral to grow faster?

The Data

Rejects the Hypothesis The data rejects the hypothesis because there were more mouths grown during the period when open brain corals were not fed However the conclusion that feedings cause open brain corals to grow slower is not supported There are number of lurking variables that were not accounted for in this experiment such as the natural growth rate of corals of varying sizes, the position of the corals in the tank, etc

Collective Data: Value and Application?

Conclusion The conclusion that the data most firmly supports is that feedings do not have any direct effect on the growth of mouths of open brain coral Of course, a definitive conclusion could not possibly be made without more evidence to fully supporting it…

Future directions? How can I make it more complete? No definitive conclusion can be made without: controlling for more variables to isolate the one independent variable (feedings) to determine if that variable is the true cause of the dependent variable extending the experiment for a longer period of time repeating the experiment

Conclusions from outside sources No experiments were found specifically to open brain corals

Challenges? Data Collection- Counting mouths Feeding to make sure the one cube was dispersed as equally as possible Some days during feedings, the tentacles were not extended like other days Small brain coral rarely opened its tentacles to take in food

The Big Picture The collection of data was legitimate The independent variable was feedings vs no feedings The dependent variable was number of mouths but… To truly support or reject the hypothesis with a conclusion well grounded in the data, more variables needed to be controlled for

Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Ando, Ryoko, et al. “An Optical Marker Based on the UV-Induced Green-to-Red Photoconversion of a Fluorescent Protein.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2002): JSTOR. Web. 20 Oct Calfo, Anthony. Book of Coral Propagation: A Concise Guide to the Successful Care and Culture of Coral Reef Invertebrates. Monroeville, PA: Readingtrees.com, Print. 3. “Corals of the Worldonline.” Corals of the World Factsheet and Images. N.p., n.d. Web.. 4. “Open Brain Coral- Green.” Blue Zoo Aquatics. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct "Open Brain Coral (Red) - Trachyphyllia Geoffroyi - Green Open Brain Coral." FreshMarine.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct "Trachyphlliidae." Trachyphlliidae. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct “Trachyphyllia geoffroyi and the ex-Wellsophyllia radiata.” Tropical Fish Magazine Mar. 2007: n. pag. Tropical Fish Magazine. Web. 20 Oct Trevor-Jones, Andrew. “Coral Feeding.” ReefKeeping Apr. 2009: n. pag. ReefKeeping. Web. 20 Oct radiata.htmhttp://reefkeeping.com/issues/ /atj/index.php