Repopulating Coral Reefs With The Aroma of Home

A team of scientists have come up with an innovative approach to help repopulate reefs - through smell. ​

Credit: Erik Jepsen / UC San Diego

Much like humans associate certain scents with home, so do coral. The scientists from the University of California, San Diego, have created a “smelling” gel called SNAP-X that taps into that welcoming sensory power to help boost the species.

“Coral are animals, and their larvae are selective about where they are going to attach because once they do, they’re stuck there,” says marine biologist Daniel Wangpraseurt. “With SNAP-X, we created a material that releases chemical cues that tell coral larvae this is a good place to live.”

In lab experiments, the gel increased coral larvae settlement by up to 20 times compared to untreated surfaces. As for real-world applications, the researchers explained it could be particularly useful at getting coral larvae to settle on degraded reefs or human-made structures that don’t have the aroma of home.

SNAP-X could help overcome a major bottleneck in reef restoration efforts at a time when climate change is challenging the health of coral habitats. The gel is applied to surfaces as a coating and releases the coral-attracting chemicals for up to a month.

An important ingredient in successful coral reef restoration is ensuring that reefs become self-sustaining and can reproduce naturally. Degraded reefs often lack suitable settlement substrates and instead of providing the chemical signals that encourage coral larvae to settle and grow, these damaged environments frequently emit deterrent cues that inhibit coral recruitment.​

“I think this material is a breakthrough that can hopefully make a big contribution to coral restoration,” says Wangpraseurt, adding: “We are really excited to take this as far as it can go.”

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