11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

Poster Mini-Symposium 26: Biodiversity and Diversification of Reef Organisms
26.1235
What Are The Costs Of Bad Taxonomic Practices?
Kathryn COATES* 1 , Jan LOCKE 2
1 Dept. of Conservation Services, Flatts, Bermuda, 2 Univ. of Puerto Rico, Flatts, Bermuda
The recent description of a new, but commonly encountered, Caribbean scleractinian
coral species, Madracis auretenra Locke, Weil and Coates, 2007 brought our attention to
the high costs of poor taxonomic practices. Since the mid-1970’s more than 118 studies
have named Madracis mirabilis (sensu Wells 1973) as one of the study organisms; in a
number of these we believe this was actually the new species M. auretenra. However, for
a variety of reasons, no specific identity can be verified for the individuals that were
named as M. mirabilis in at least one-quarter of the studies. No matter what kind or how
many data are applied to the question of taxonomic identity, if good taxonomic practices
are not applied, then this is a predictable outcome. A few basic elements of practicing
good taxonomy are 1) reference to original materials, including type specimens, original
descriptions and study-specific reference materials; 2) a working knowledge and
understanding of the international codes of nomenclature; and 3) maintenance of
reference materials for all specimens where taxonomic identity is of significance to the
application of related data. The immediate costs of bad taxonomy are the sum of the
research funds plus the value of time and facilities that are used to produce compromised
data. If these data are not referable to any species-level taxon then they cannot be applied
in any analyses having species-level implications – including studies of diversity,
physiology, reproduction, biogeography, ecology and evolution.
26.1236
Knowledge base on coral Systematics of the Mascarene archipelago : presentation of
the results
Yannick GEYNET 1 , Michel PICHON* 2 , Gérard FAURE 3 , David GROSSER 1
1 IREMIA - University of La Réunion, St Denis - Réunion Island, Reunion, 2 EPHE -
Perpignan, Perpignan, France, Metropolitan,
COURNONTERRAL, France, Metropolitan
3 University of Montpellier,
In the process of monitoring, managing and conserving biodiversity, some biologists
have become experts and have developed a unique know-how to produce species
inventories. These experts are not simply living encyclopedias to be found in Museums,
but also individuals with first hand experience, educated intuitions and reasoning powers
applicable to decision making (naming, classifying, identifying a specimen) in particular
domains of knowledge.
But expertise in Systematics is at a turning point: it is becoming rare. For future
biodiversity studies relying on species identification, environmental officers and
researchers will only be left with monographic descriptions and collections in museums.
This is the reason why a knowledge base on the zooxanthellate scleractinian corals of the
Mascarene Archipelago is being developed. Based on the Gerard Faure's collection of
approximately 4000 specimens (13 families) collected in the Mascarene Archipelago, this
project relies on two online computer-based applications and a web site.
The web site offers an easy-to-use, worldwide, bilingual (English and French) interface to
access the results. One part of the site is dedicated to the Scleractinia facts (biology,
ecology, conservation, etc), another is dedicated to the taxonomic aspects and proposes
online identification tools.
The first identification tool, called Xper² and developed by the LIS (Informatic and
Systematics Laboratory) in Paris, is used for the identifications from the order to the
genera. The second identification tool, named IKBS (Iterative Knowledge Base System)
and developed by the IREMIA (Institute for Research in Applied Mathematics and
Computer Science) in La Réunion, is used for the identifications from families to species.
During the two preceding phases of the project, 4 Scleractinian families (Pocilloporidae,
Siderastreidae, Fungiidae, Astrocoeniidae) have been processed. The present (third)
phase will deal with 3 additional families/genera (Faviidae, Acroporida, Mussidae).
26.1237
Molecular Phylogenetic Analyses Indicate Very Low Genetic Variation Between porites
Porites, p. Furcata, And p. Divaricata
Matthew LUCAS*1, Semoya PHILLIPS 2 , Sandra ROMANO 3
1 Biology, Southeast Missouri State University, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (U.S.), 2 University of
the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (U.S.), 3 Div. of Sci. & Math, University of the
Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (U.S.)
The taxonomy of Scleractinian corals is not well understood largely due to a high degree of
overlap in morphological variation in skeletal characters used to distinguish closely related taxa
and difficulties in determining character homologies. The ability to distinguish species is
important as reliable taxonomy is necessary to manage coral populations. In the Caribbean, the
genus Porites exemplifies the species problem in corals. A gradual continuum of
morphological variation exists among three sympatrically occuring branching Porites species
with branch diameters ranging from thin (P. divaricata) to thick branches (P. porites) with an
intermediate form (P. furcata). Some allozyme and morphometric data provide some support
for independent species status for these three nominal species. However these characters have
limited taxonomic resolution. Ten colonies of each species were photographed, observed, and
collected. DNA sequences from nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS-1 & ITS-2) and three noncoding
regions of mitochondrial DNA were PCR amplified, cloned, sequenced, and aligned. Molecular
phylogenetic analyses of 850 bp demonstrate little genetic variation between the three nominal
species suggesting that they are not good species as has been previously hypothesized. Further
analyses will determine if these results are due to 1) a lack of variability in chosen markers or 2)
lack of observed genetic variation within these species due to recent speciation.
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