Figure 3
From: Integrated evidence reveals a new species in the ancient blue coral genus Heliopora (Octocorallia)
Reproductive biology of Heliopora hiberniana sp. nov. (A,B) Well-developed oocytes (>1 mm greater diameter) in the coelenteron which are larger than mean maximum egg sizes for scleractinians (recorded as 810 µm for Lobophyllia hemprichii, https://coraltraits.org); (C) Histological section of a well-developed oocyte showing the nucleus and lipid vacuoles. Considering H. coerulea is a surface brooder, and the planulae of this species have been shown to have a low lipid content68 the finding of such well-developed eggs still in the coelenteron raises the possibility that H. hiberniana sp. nov. may not exhibit surface brooding behavior.
