New evidence shows that Pocillopora ‘damicornis-like’ corals in Singapore are actually Pocillopora acuta (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae)

By

Poquita-Du, Rosa
Ng, Chin Soon Lionel
Loo, Jun Bin
Afiq-Rosli, Lutfi
Tay, Ywee Chieh
Todd, Peter
Chou, Loke Ming
Huang, Danwei

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017-02-13

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

5

Pages

1--12

Subjects

Biodiversity , cryptic species , Distribution , museum specimens , phylogenetic analysis , Pocillopora

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.5.e11407
eLocator: e11407

 

Abstract

Molecular sequence data have previously revealed the existence of cryptic species associated with the Pocillopora ‘damicornis-like’ coral. Recently, this species complex has been reclassified into three species including the resurrected P. acuta, which appears to have a wide distribution. Morphological characteristics described for P. acuta are present in corals previously identified as Pocillopora damicornis. To determine if the Pocillopora ‘damicornis-like’ colonies on Singapore’s reefs are P. acuta, P. damicornis, or both, we examined a new collection of Pocillopora using mitochondrial DNA data and morphology. We also compared specimen morphologies from past collections and examined the known regional distributions of both species. Our analyses show that most Pocillopora ‘damicornis-like’ corals in Singapore are P. acuta instead of P. damicornis. Findings here are important for coral diversity records in Singapore and will help clarify distributional limits of morphologically similar Pocillopora species.