DNA barcoding reveals the coral “laboratory-rat”, Stylophora pistillata encompasses multiple identities

Abstract

Stylophora pistillata is a widely used coral “lab-rat” species with highly variable morphology and a broad biogeographic range (Red Sea to western central Pacific). Here we show, by analysing Cytochorme Oxidase I sequences, from 241 samples across this range, that this taxon in fact comprises four deeply divergent clades corresponding to the Pacific-Western Australia, Chagos-Madagascar-South Africa, Gulf of Aden-Zanzibar-Madagascar, and Red Sea-Persian/Arabian Gulf-Kenya. On the basis of the fossil record of Stylophora, these four clades diverged from one another 51.5-29.6 Mya, i.e., long before the closure of the Tethyan connection between the tropical Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic in the early Miocene (16–24 Mya) and should be recognised as four distinct species. These findings have implications for comparative ecological and/or physiological studies carried out using Stylophora pistillata as a model species, and highlight the fact that phenotypic plasticity, thought to be common in scleractinian corals, can mask significant genetic variation.

The New Systematics of Scleractinia: Integrating Molecular and Morphological Evidence

“…In fact, intraspecific differentiation was detected between co-occurring populations of Cycloseris costulata in Indonesia (Gittenberger and Hoeksema 2006), P. daedalea in Kenya (Mangubhai et al 2007), and Favites valenciennesi in Japan (Fukami and Nomura 2009). Larger geographic contrasts such as between Red Sea and Pacific Ocean populations of Dipsastraea and Stylophora have also revealed molecular separation between regions Arrigoni et al 2012;Keshavmurthy et al 2013). However, to reach a stage where taxonomic revisions can be attempted, broad geographic sampling across the Indo-Pacific and detailed studies of closely-related species are necessary, such as in the case of species in Astreopora (Suzuki and Nomura 2013), Pocillopora (Pinzón and LaJeunesse 2010;Pinzón et al 2012Pinzón et al , 2013Torda et al 2013a, b;Marti-Puig et al 2014;Schmidt-Roach et al 2013, 2014 and Psammocora (Benzoni et al 2010;Stefani et al 2008a).…”

Common reef-building coral in the Northern Red Sea resistant to elevated temperature and acidification

“…S. pistillata is a cosmopolitan species that is prominent in the Red Sea, includes multiple genetic host clades that exist in different thermal environments around the world and has been extensively used for all levels of physiological coral research [25]. Considered an r-strategist [26], this species is expected to be sensitive to environmental disturbances.…”

Polyphyly and hidden species among Hawaiʻi’s dominant mesophotic coral genera,LeptoserisandPavona(Scleractinia: Agariciidae)

“…Although mitochondrial genes are often uninformative in reef-building corals (Shearer et al, 2002; Hellberg, 2006; Shearer & Coffroth, 2008), recently discovered, highly variable mitochondrial markers in Pocilloporidae (Flot & Tillier, 2007) have revealed the strongest evolutionary and biogeographical patterns (e.g., Pinzón & LaJeunesse, 2011; Keshavmurthy et al, 2013; Pinzón et al, 2013), while remaining consistent with other genetic markers. Although multiple molecular markers are often desirable in phylogenetic studies (Funk & Omland, 2003), we show here that the cox 1-1-rRNA intron provides high resolution for the genera Leptoseris and Pavona with strong concordance between mitochondrial groups and discrete micromorphological characters.…”