oc001

SEX EVOIUTIOI{ AND TEE ORIGII{ OI' MU}TICEIIU],ARTTY,

A. 0, Ruvinsky fnetltute of C and Genetics USSR Aca
Sciences ovosi.bi.rs
evolutlon or 8etr, eesenti.al property of llvlng
organisms, remain unclear. Baged oa theoretieal conelderationg, some
of the sequenti.al related, events are recongtructed,. Tbe first etage
is characterized. by the appearance of regular copuLatlon of unicel-
lular hapJ.oid organisms. ft is of importanee that at thls stage there
ls no reLation between the sexuaS" procese and, reproductLon whicb is
onLy asomal. The eenral procesa inevitably J.eade to evolutionary
noveltleel dlploidy, meiosie. At the nextstage the sexuaL process ls
probably one of the main conditions required for the origin of muItl-
cellularlty. Three pathways of the transltion from unicel.luLar to
nulticeLluLar organisue are theoretical.ly possible. fhey can be tra-
ced ln the existlng nulticellular kingdornn : aninaLs, firagi. and plantg,
the se:Rral process aad, reproduction are combined ln nulticelLular
organisme giving rise to sexual reprod,uction. The flnal etage ie
associated. with the origin of distLnct sexual folms and bisexual.J.y
reproducing species.

oco02
PATTERNS IN CORAL REPRODUCTION AT LIZARD ISLAND, GREAT BARRIER REEF.
B. Kojisx& N. Quinn. Lizard Island Research Station, P.M.8.37, Cairns, Queensland
Many coral species on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) broadcast sperm and eggs
during a brief spring spawning period. This mass spawning is well documented on
the GBR. ln/hat is lacking is information on the number and species of corals that
spawn outside this period. 0n Lizard Island we have recorded the month spawning
occurs in a variety of egg and sperm releasing coraLs, both common and rare, from
September to March. This has been documented by observing ripe gonads in tissue
samples and spawning in both the field and aquaria. tnle will discuss these data in
rel-ation to hypotheses relating to evolutionary advantages of the mass spawning
phenomenon and current speculation as to why the mass spawning of corals on the
reefs of Western Australia are nearly 5 months out of phase with the corafs of the
Great Barrier Reef.