[Coral-List] Acropora prolifera issues

[Gregor Hodgson]

We are also seeing more Acropora prolifera in several areas of the
Caribbean, however, a couple of caveats in interpreting the data.
1. While the species is Lamarck, 1816, and was included in taxonomic work
such as Wood, EM 1983 Corals of the World TFH Publications, there was a lot
of doubt if it could be a "valid" species during the 1970s ­ 80s, so it was
not really recognized by many ecologists until at least the 1990s, was not
even mentioned in field guides such as Kaplan, EH 1982 A field guide to
coral reefs of the Caribbean and Florida. Houghton Mifflin, and not nailed
down by multiple lines of genetic evidence until 2002 by Vollmer,  S.V. &
Palumbi, S.R. Hybridization and the evolution of reef coral  diversity.
Science 296, 2023-2025 (June 14, 2002).
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&lis
t_uids=12065836&dopt=Abstract>  so many probably ignored it in prior field
studies.
2. Prior to the collapse of Acropora in the Caribbean during the 1980s,
there was so much Acropora on reefs (often occupying 50% of the reef, that
the hybrid species could have easily been missed/ignored by accident.
3. Relatively speaking we are still seeing more cervicornis and palmata than
prolifera in places like Haiti and Cuba which have served as refuges for
Acropora during the meltdown. (One wonders if the lack of 2-stroke engines
and sunscreen in these two countries have helped?) Sunscreens Cause Coral
Bleaching by Promoting Viral Infections
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2291018/>
4. Roberto Danovaro, Lucia Bongiorni, Cinzia Corinaldesi, Donato
Giovannelli, Elisabetta Damiani, Paola Astolfi, Lucedio Greci, Antonio
Pusceddu
5. Environ Health Perspect. 2008 April; 116(4): 441­447. Published online
2008 January 3. doi: 10.1289/ehp.10966
Gregor Hodgson, PhD
Executive Director
Reef Check Foundation
PO Box 1057 (mail)
17575 Pacific Coast Highway (overnight)
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 USA
T: +1 310-230-2371 or 2360
Gregorh at reefcheck.org
Skype: gregorh001