First documented broadcast spawning event for the coral species, Pocillopora meandrina (Cauliflower coral) in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

Spawning cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina) within the Shark Island lagoon, French Frigate Shoals, part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Photo: Mark Sullivan/USFWS

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) workers diving at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, part of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, have photographed for the first time a spawning event for cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina).  Cauliflower coral is a common, reef building coral species found throughout the Hawaiian Islands and the Indo-Pacific, but its spawning had never before been documented in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. 

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