[Coral-List] annularis, faviolata, or franksi

[Vassil Zlatarski]

 Hope of interest: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26655359#>

Am Nat. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26655359#> 2015
Sep;186(3):434-40. doi: 10.1086/682363. Epub 2015 Jul 24.
Switch between Morphospecies of Pocillopora Corals.
Paz-García DA
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Paz-Garc%C3%ADa%20DA%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=26655359>
1, Hellberg ME
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Hellberg%20ME%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=26655359>,
García-de-León FJ
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Garc%C3%ADa-de-Le%C3%B3n%20FJ%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=26655359>,
Balart EF
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Balart%20EF%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=26655359>
..
Abstract
Pocillopora corals are the main reef builders in the eastern tropical
Pacific. The validity of Pocillopora morphospecies remains under debate
because of disagreements between morphological and genetic data. To
evaluate the temporal stability of morphospecies in situ, we monitored the
shapes of individual colonies in three communities in the southern Gulf of
California for 44 months. Twenty-three percent of tagged colonies of
Pocillopora damicornis changed to Pocillopora inflata morphology during
this time. This switch in identity coincided with a shift to a higher
frequency of storms and lower water turbidity (i.e., lower chlorophyll a
levels). Seven months after the switch, P. inflata colonies were recovering
their original P. damicornis morphology. All colonies of both morphospecies
shared a common mitochondrial identity, but most P. damicornis colonies
undergoing change were at a site with low-flow conditions. This is the
first in situ study to document switching between described morphospecies,
and it elucidates the influence of temporal shifts in environmental
conditions on morphologically plastic responses.

Best,

Vassil