Genome Skimming Illuminates Hidden Species Diversity and Symbiodiniaceae Associations in East Pacific Pocillopora Corals.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity conservation relies upon accurate species taxonomy to support decision-making. Stony corals in the genus Pocillopora are critical ecosystem engineers in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP); however, Pocillopora species diversity in the region is still unresolved due to high phenotypic plasticity, lack of diagnostic morphological characters, and low-resolution genetic markers used in previous studies. To address this gap, we leveraged low-coverage whole-genome sequencing for 342 Pocillopora coral samples collected from Panamá, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and Clipperton Atoll (France). Sequence data were used to recover mitochondrial genomes and barcode loci, ultraconserved elements, and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for species delimitation. Together, our

SUBMITTER: Connelly MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12859748 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature