Reproduction

Manicina areolata is a simultaneous hermaphrodite.
Colonies are not reproductive until they reach a height of 1.5 to 2.0cm, after 2 to 3 years of growth.
Individual colonies produce hundreds to thousands of larvae each year.
Ovaries and spermaries develop on mesentaries that hang between septa.
Gametes mature in the late spring, and sperm are released on one or a few nights around the full moon in May or June.
Fertilization is internal, and small pear-shaped larvae are brooded in the stomach of the mother colony for two weeks.
Larvae are released synchronously on the night of the new moon, possibly because the darkness provides some protection from predatory fish.
Larvae are probably able to live in the water column for a few weeks, but are also immediately able to settle and many do so maintaining relatively dense populations in suitable habitats (up to 50 per square meter in places along the Caribbean coast of Panama).