Comparative Molecular and Morphological Variation Analysis of Siderastrea (Anthozoa, Scleractinia) Reveals the Presence of Siderastrea stellata in the Gulf of Mexico

The genus Siderastrea exhibits high levels of morphological variability. Some of its species share similar morphological characteristics with congeners, making their identification difficult. Siderastrea stellata has been reported as an intermediary of S. siderea and S. radians in the Brazilian reef...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Biological bulletin (Lancaster) 2017-02, Vol.232 (1), p.58-70
Main Authors: GARCÍA, NORBERTO A. COLÍN, CAMPOS, JORGE E., MUSI, JOSÉ L. TELLO, FORSMAN, ZAC H., MUÑOZ, JORGE L. MONTERO, REYES, ALEJANDRO MONSALVO, GONZÁLEZ, JESÚS E. ARIAS
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Animal Distribution
Animals
Anthozoa - anatomy & histology
Anthozoa - classification
Anthozoa - genetics
Brazil
Colonies
Comparative analysis
Congeners
Coral reefs
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - genetics
Genetic aspects
Genetic Variation
Gulf of Mexico
Identification and classification
Molecules
Morphological variation
Morphology
Siderastrea
Siderastrea radians
Siderastrea stellata
Species Specificity
Stony corals
SYSTEMATICS
Variability
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Summary:The genus Siderastrea exhibits high levels of morphological variability. Some of its species share similar morphological characteristics with congeners, making their identification difficult. Siderastrea stellata has been reported as an intermediary of S. siderea and S. radians in the Brazilian reef ecosystem. In an earlier study conducted in Mexico, we detected Siderastrea colonies with morphological features that were not consistent with some siderastreid species previously reported in the Gulf of Mexico. Thus, we performed a combined morphological and molecular analysis to identify Siderastrea species boundaries from the Gulf of Mexico. Some colonies presented high morphologic variability, with characteristics that corresponded to Siderastrea stellata. Molecular analysis, using the nuclear ITS and ITS2 region, corroborated the morphological results, revealing low genetic variability between S. radians and S. stellata. Since the ITS sequences did not distinguish between Siderastrea species, we used the ITS2 region to differentiate S. stellata from S. radians. This is the first report of Siderastrea stellata and its variability in the Gulf of Mexico that is supported by morphological and molecular analyses.
ISSN:0006-3185
1939-8697
DOI:10.1086/691788