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doi: 10.7717/peerj.751. eCollection 2015.

Clues to unraveling the coral species problem: distinguishing species from geographic variation in Porites across the Pacific with molecular markers and microskeletal traits

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Clues to unraveling the coral species problem: distinguishing species from geographic variation in Porites across the Pacific with molecular markers and microskeletal traits

Zac Forsman et al. PeerJ..

Abstract

Morphological variation in the geographically widespread coral Porites lobata can make it difficult to distinguish from other massive congeneric species. This morphological variation could be attributed to geographic variability, phenotypic plasticity, or a combination of such factors. We examined genetic and microscopic morphological variability in P. lobata samples from the Galápagos, Easter Island, Tahiti, Fiji, Rarotonga, and Australia. Panamanian P. evermanni specimens were used as a previously established distinct outgroup against which to test genetic and morphological methods of discrimination. We employed a molecular analysis of variance (AMOVA) based on ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) sequence, principal component analysis (PCA) of skeletal landmarks, and Mantel tests to compare genetic and morphological variation. Both genetic and morphometric methods clearly distinguished P. lobata and P. evermanni, while significant genetic and morphological variance was attributed to differences among geographic regions for P. lobata. Mantel tests indicate a correlation between genetic and morphological variation for P. lobata across the Pacific. Here we highlight landmark morphometric measures that correlate well with genetic differences, showing promise for resolving species of Porites, one of the most ubiquitous yet challenging to identify architects of coral reefs.

Keywords: Coral reef; ITS region; Identification; Micro-morphology; Porites; Species delimitation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Robert J Toonen is an Academic Editor for PeerJ.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. An illustration of the corallite morphometric characters used in this study.
(A) SEM image of BPBM-SC454Porites lobata forma centralisβ, (Vaughan 1905 syntype; Oahu et al., 1904). (B) SEM image of BPBM-SC455Porites evermanni, (Vaughan 1905 type; near Pearl Harbor Thompson 1904). (C) Schematic diagram ofPorites primary diagnostic features.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Neighbor-Joining tree of distances between all sequences in this study.
Geographic regions sampled are indicated by color. The sample number is followed by a dash representing the number of the molecular clone. Bootstrap values below 70% are not shown. The triangle represents the collapsedP.evermanni clade; the height of the triangle is proportional to the genetic variability within the clade.
Figure 3
Figure 3. An example of geographical variation amongP. lobata spp.
(A) Tahiti, (B) Galapagos, (C) Fiji, (D) Easter Island, (E)P. evermanni. The dorsal directive is indicated by a red dot in the upper area of the image.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Stepwise multivariate cononical discriminant analysis plot of the two factors with the largest covariance.
95% confidence ellipses are drawn around the data from each region.
Figure 5
Figure 5. The relationship between genetic and morphologic distances betweenP. lobata populations.
Ther2 value for a linear regression are indicated.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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Grants and funding

Funding was provided by a Sigma Xi research grant to ZH Forsman, a grant to GM Wellington from the National Geographic Society (#6047-97) and a grant to RJ Toonen (NSF OCE 12-60169). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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