Systematics of the Hexacorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa)

Daly, Marymegan; Fautin, Daphne G.; Cappola, Valerie A.

doi:10.1046/j.1096-3642.2003.00084.x

Cited by 128 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 84 publications

(127 reference statements)

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“…Thus, the scleractinian skeleton has likely not been as evolutionarily ephemeral (8) as some have suggested (9). Nevertheless, molecular data have consistently confirmed the close relationship between Scleractinia and nonskeletonized Corallimorpharia (8,12,14,15) evident from morphology. However, up to this point, molecular analyses have failed to provide resolution or a consistent signal at the base of the clade uniting Scleractinia and Corallimorpharia.…”

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confidence: 82%

“…Similarity in scleractinian and corallimorpharian cnidoms also has been used to argue that scleractinians have an especially close relationship to Corallimorpharia (6,7). The cladistic analysis of Daly et al (8) also identified sperm ultrastructure characteristics that may be synapomorphies for the clade uniting Scleractinia and Corallimorpharia.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…A robust phylogeny of Hexacorallia obviously provides the most direct test of the naked coral hypothesis in any of its forms, and, in fact, more recent molecular phylogenetic analyses with greater taxon sampling across Hexacorallia have shown rather conclusively that scleractinians are more closely related to each other than any are to zoanthideans and the highly diverse actiniarians (8,14,15). Thus, the scleractinian skeleton has likely not been as evolutionarily ephemeral (8) as some have suggested (9).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Naked corals: Skeleton loss in Scleractinia

Medina

Collins

Takaoka

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

234

220

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Stony corals, which form the framework for modern reefs, are classified as Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, and Hexacorallia) in reference to their external aragonitic skeletons. However, persistent notions, collectively known as the “naked coral” hypothesis, hold that the scleractinian skeleton does not define a natural group. Three main lines of evidence have suggested that some stony corals are more closely related to one or more of the soft-bodied hexacorallian groups than they are to other scleractinians: ( i ) morphological similarities; ( ii ) lack of phylogenetic resolution in molecular analyses of scleractinians; and ( iii ) discrepancy between the commencement of a diverse scleractinian fossil record at 240 million years ago (Ma) and a molecule-based origination of at least 300 Ma. No molecular evidence has been able to clearly reveal relationships at the base of a well supported clade composed of scleractinian lineages and the nonskeletonized Corallimorpharia. We present complete mitochondrial genome data that provide strong evidence that one clade of scleractinians is more closely related to Corallimorpharia than it is to a another clade of scleractinians. Thus, the scleractinian skeleton, which we estimate to have originated between 240 and 288 Ma, was likely lost in the ancestry of Corallimorpharia. We estimate that Corallimorpharia originated between 110 and 132 Ma during the late- to mid-Cretaceous, coinciding with high levels of oceanic CO 2 , which would have impacted aragonite solubility. Corallimorpharians escaped extinction from aragonite skeletal dissolution, but some modern stony corals may not have such fortunate fates under the pressure of increased anthropogenic CO 2 in the ocean.

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confidence: 82%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Naked corals: Skeleton loss in Scleractinia

Medina

Collins

Takaoka

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

234

220

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“…Stony corals belonging to the order Scleractinia (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) are a clade of cnidarians that build a calcium carbonate skeleton in the form of aragonite, and are sister group to the non-stony corallimorpharians (Daly et al 2003;Fukami et al 2008;Kitahara et al 2014;Lin et al 2014). At present, Scleractinia contains 31 families, about 240 genera, and over 1,500 species (Cairns 1999(Cairns , 2009Appeltans et al 2012;Huang and Roy 2015), including both zooxanthellate-hosting the symbiotic dinoflagallate Symbiodiniumand azooxanthellate corals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The New Systematics of Scleractinia: Integrating Molecular and Morphological Evidence

Kitahara

Fukami

Benzoni

et al. 2016

The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future

108

100

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The taxonomy of scleractinian corals has traditionally been established based on morphology at the "macro" scale since the time of Carl Linnaeus. Taxa described using macromorphology are useful for classifying the myriad of growth forms, yet new molecular and small-scale morphological data have challenged the natural historicity of many familiar groups, motivating multiple revisions at every taxonomic level. In this synthesis of scleractinian phylogenetics and systematics, we present the most current state of affairs in the field covering both zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate taxa, focusing on the progress of our phylogenetic understanding of this ecologically-significant clade, which today is supported by rich sets of molecular and morphological data. It is worth noting that when DNA sequence data was first used to investigate coral evolution in the 1990s, there was no concerted effort to use phylogenetic information to delineate problematic taxa. In the last decade, however, the incompatibility of coral taxonomy with their evolutionary history has become much clearer, as molecular analyses for corals have been improved upon technically and expanded to all major scleractinian clades, shallow and deep. We describe these methodological developments and summarise new taxonomic revisions based on robust inferences of the coral tree of life. Despite these efforts, there are still unresolved sections of the scleractinian phylogeny, resulting in uncertain taxonomy for several taxa. We highlight these and propose a way forward for the taxonomy of corals.

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“…This group of corals lacks calcareous skeleton (den Hartog 1980;Daly et al 2003Daly et al , 2007Fautin et al 2007) and can be found either as solitary polyps (den Hartog 1980) or as colonies that cover extensive sections of a reef (Gerald and Roger 1994;Muhando et al 2002). According to Daly et al (2007), the order Corallimorpharia includes four families (Corallimorphidae, Discosomatidae, Ricordeidae, and Sideractiidae), nine genera (12 genera according to Fautin et al 2007), and at least 24 valid species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two distinct, geographically overlapping lineages of the corallimorpharian Ricordea florida (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Ricordeidae)

et al. 2010

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We examined the genetic variation of the corallimorpharian Ricordea florida; it is distributed throughout the Caribbean region and is heavily harvested for the marine aquarium trade. Eighty-four distinct individuals of R. florida were sequenced from four geographically distant Caribbean locations (Curaçao, Florida, Guadeloupe, and Puerto Rico). Analysis of the ribosomal nuclear region (ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2) uncovered two geographically partially overlapping genetic lineages in R. florida, probably representing two cryptic species. Lineage 1 was found in Florida and Puerto Rico, and Lineage 2 was found in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, and Curaçao. Because of the multi-allelic nature of the ITS region, four individuals from Lineage 1 and six from Lineage 2 were cloned to evaluate the levels of hidden intra-individual variability. Pairwise genetic comparisons indicated that the levels of intra-individual and intra-lineage variability (\1%) were approximately an order of magnitude lower than the divergence (*9%) observed between the two lineages. The fishery regulations of the aquarium trade regard R. florida as one species. More refined regulations should take into account the presence of two genetic lineages, and they should be managed separately in order to preserve the long-term evolutionary potential of this corallimorpharian. The discovery of two distinct lineages in R. florida illustrates the importance of evaluating genetic variability in harvested species prior to the implementation of management policies.

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Systematics of the Hexacorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa)

Cited by 128 publications

References 84 publications

Naked corals: Skeleton loss in Scleractinia

Naked corals: Skeleton loss in Scleractinia

The New Systematics of Scleractinia: Integrating Molecular and Morphological Evidence

Two distinct, geographically overlapping lineages of the corallimorpharian Ricordea florida (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Ricordeidae)

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