11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

Poster Mini-Symposium 26: Biodiversity and Diversification of Reef Organisms
26.1186
Phylogenetic Relationships Within The Speciose Soft Coral Genus Sinularia
Catherine MCFADDEN* 1 , Elizabeth BECKMAN 2 , Leen VAN OFWEGEN 3 , Yehuda
BENAYAHU 4
1 Biology, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA, 2 Harvey Mudd College, Claremont,
CA, 3 Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden, Netherlands, 4 Tel Aviv University,
Tel Aviv, Israel
Soft corals belonging to the genus Sinularia are abundant and ecologically important
members of shallow-water coral reef communities throughout the Indo-Pacific. The
genus includes approximately 135 nominal species, with more currently being described.
Species of Sinularia are distinguished by a combination of colony growth form and
sclerite morphology; these characters exhibit a continuum of variation within and
between species, making species boundaries difficult to detect morphologically. To
explore phylogenetic relationships and species boundaries within this large genus, we
used a 735 bp fragment of the mitochondrial msh1 gene to construct a molecular
phylogeny for approximately 120 specimens representing >50 identified morphospecies
of Sinularia. The phylogeny revealed 7 distinct, well-supported clades, several of them
separated by genetic distance values comparable to those typically found among different
genera of alcyoniid soft corals. Some morphological character states, in particular the
shape of the club sclerites in the colony surface, were congruent with the observed msh1
clades. For instance, all species with the distinctive “leptoclados-type” clubs formed a
well-supported clade. The recently described monotypic species Dampia
pocilloporaeformis nested within Sinularia in a clade with S. foveolata and S.
fungoides; all three of these species share a unique type of club sclerite. Despite
evolving faster than other mitochondrial protein-coding genes, msh1 was not variable
enough to distinguish all species of Sinularia, and within each clade some
morphologically distinct specimens shared identical msh1 haplotypes. A more rapidly
evolving nuclear gene such as ITS will be required to further explore species boundaries
within clades of Sinularia.
26.1187
Do Seagrasses Attract The Juveniles Of Coral Reef Fish?
Chen-Lu LEE* 1 , Hsing-Juh LIN 1
1 Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
Seagass beds are often considered as nursery habitats of coral reef fish. What attracts
juvenile fish to migrate into seagrass beds may be resulted from the complex hiding space
or/and abundant food sources. To test the hypotheses, we surveyed transects through two
species of seagrass beds (Thalassia hemprichii and Halodule uninervis) and bare sand
area in the fringing reefs of Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan. We recorded species, number
and size of fish and the microhabitat for each individual. Our results showed that most
reef fish living in seagrass beds were juveniles. The most dominant families are Labridae,
followed by Lethrinidae, Mullidae and Scaridae. We found distinct fish assemblages
among the two species of seagrass beds and bare sand area. In the Thalassia bed, some
juveniles of Labridae and Scaridae were observed only with the seagrasses. However, the
juveniles of Lethrinidae and Mullidae preferred the Halodule bed with the sediment of
silt. Those differences were resulted from not only by seagrass species, but also by
substrate in the seagrass bed.
26.1188
The Centers Of Coral Reef Mollusc Species Richness in The Philippines
Benjamin VALLEJO JR* 1
1 Environmental Science and Meteorology, University of the Philippines, Quezon City,
Philippines
This study presents the results of biogeographical analysis of 100 years of faunal surveys and
inventories of coral reef molluscs in the Philippines. The analysis indicates that the Verde
Island Passage and Tayabas Bay have 443 recorded species of Philippine macromolluscs
representing representing 81% of Philippine species. This is followed by the Tañon Strait which
has 289 species representing 53% of Philippine species. These results support recent studies on
coral reef shorefishes and other invertebrates.
26.1189
Pocillopora Verrucosa And Pocillopora Meandrina Are Distinct Species: Morphometric
Evidences
Jérémie VIDAL-DUPIOL* 1 , Michel PICHON 1
1 Biologie Ecologie Tropicale et Mediterranéenne, UMR 5244 CNRS-UPVD-EPHE, Perpignan
Cedex, France
Scleractinian coral identification to species level using a traditional morphological approach is
often difficult and even experts sometimes experience difficulties to separate closely related
species. Although morphometric data have sometimes been used in the past, they were in most
instances restricted to simple data sets used to back up evidence derived from mere comparisons
of morphological characters. Two nominal species of Pocillopora, Pocillopora verrucosa (Ellis
& Solander, 1786) and P. meandrina, Dana, 1846 have been considered in the past either as one
species or as two distinct species. The strategy used to unravel this taxonomic wrangle relies (1)
on an analysis in a multidimensional space of morphometric data collected on the whole
colonies and on individual branches, and (2) on unimodal statistical tests. Three types of
analyses have been carried out: (1) A principal component analysis which has allowed to extract
and visualize the most structuring variables, (2) a discriminant analysis which has allowed to
classify each specimen within one of the two groups of specimens, and (3) a series of t tests
(comparisons of means) to validate the differences identified between each group. The results
obtained clearly show that Pocillopora verrucosa and P. meandrina can easily be separated on
a morphometric basis. Our results should be confirmed by the combination of investigations
focusing on other biological aspects such as ecological, molecular and physiological
characteristics.
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