Brooding and parthenogenesis enhance the success of the coral Porites astreoides relative to Orbicella annularis.

ABSTRACT: The abundance of many Caribbean corals has declined over the past few decades, yet now Porites astreoides is more common on many shallow reefs than in the 1980s and shows evidence of local adaptation. We compare the small-scale (1-8000 m) genetic structure of this brooding species and the broadcasting coral Orbicella annularis on reefs (<14 m depth) in St. John, US Virgin Islands, to examine how larval dispersal and asexual propagation contribute to the retention of genotypes within reefs. Populations of P. astreoides have genetic structure across reefs separated by a few 100 m, increased relatedness within reefs, and parthenogenetic larval propagation confirmed by parent-offspring genotyping. Within reefs, P. astreoides colonies <1 m apart are more related, independent of clonal reproduct

SUBMITTER: Levitan DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12062785 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature