Intraspecific variation of a dominant Caribbean reef building coral, Montastrea annularis: genetic, behavioral and morphometric aspects

Abstract

We investigated intraspecific variation of the dominant C a~i b b e a n reef building coral Montastrea annularis (Ellis & Solander) in terms of genetic variation (protein electrophoresis), intraspecific interaction and micro/macro morphometry. Our study included 3 sympatric morphotypes. 'Bumpy', 'Massive' and 'Columnar', distinguishable within M annularis populations on the leeward coasts of C u r a~a o and Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles). The g e n e t~c study demonstrated 8 polymorphic and 1 monomorphic loci. The mean number of alleles over all loci was 4.7, and the average heterozygosity (H) over all loci examined was high (0.36). One out of 9 taxonomic units showed a significant heterozygote deficiency; the others matched expectation. The M. annularis morphotypes showed a significant variation in allele frequencies but no fixed differences were found. The 'Columnar' and 'Bumpy' morphotypes were more similar with a genetic distance of 0.07. The 'Massive' morphotype demonstrated larger genetic distances: 0.13 with 'Columnar' and 0.16 with 'Bumpy' The 'Bumpy' morphotype was dominant over the other 2 morphotypes in the intraspecific interaction experiments, and 'Massive' was dominant over 'Columnar' The percentage of interactions was lower in intra-morphic experiments Of the 22 micro-morphometric parameters examined, 14 showed significant differences between the 3 morphs. In addition the mean number of polyps per cm2 was very different: values ranged from 28.55 for 'Bumpy' to 40.97 for 'Columnar'

Extreme morphological plasticity enables a free mode of life in Favia gravida at Ascension Island (South Atlantic)

“…These studies deal mostly with the dimensions and spacing of corallites, which appear to respond to light and sedimentation (Laborel 1969;Wijsman-Best 1974;Foster 1979Foster , 1980Budd 1993;Van Veghel and Bak 1993;Amaral 1994;Todd et al 2001Todd et al , 2004Amaral and Ramos 2007;Ow and Todd 2010;Chen et al 2011). This habitatinduced phenotypic variability has often hampered the recognition of species and also of monophyletic groups at higher taxonomic levels within the Faviidae (Fukami et al 2004;Huang et al 2009;Budd and Stolarski 2011).…”

Use of fractal dimensions to quantify coral shape

“…This may have been due to sample size constraints, but the eVect of transplantation made by Budd Foster (1979) of colonies of M. annularis into diVerent environments of the Discovery Bay reef complex in Jamaica (patch reef, lagoon, reef and sand channel) cannot be excluded. Due to the subsequent discovery of sibling species (van Veghel and Bak 1993;Knowlton et al 1992) in the species group, the speciWc attribution to the restricted group M. annularis s.s. is also questionable.…”

Speciation Versus Phenotypic Plasticity in Coral Inhabiting Barnacles: Darwin's Observations in an Ecological Context

“…Advanced methodologies, including high-resolution morphological techniques [e.g., scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies] and molecular tools, enable identification of complexes of sibling species (Knowlton et al 1992;Van Veghel and Bak 1993;Knowlton 1993) for readdressing ecological and evolutionary questions (Knowlton and Jackson 1994). …”