The molecular basis of differential morphology and bleaching thresholds in two morphs of the coral Pocillopora acuta.

ABSTRACT: Processes of cnidarian evolution, including hybridization and phenotypic plasticity, have complicated the clear diagnosis of species boundaries within the phylum. Pocillopora acuta, a species of scleractinian coral that was recently split from the widespread Pocillopora damicornis species complex, occurs in at least two distinct morphs on the Great Barrier Reef. Contrasting morphology combined with evidence of differential bleaching thresholds among sympatrically distributed colonies suggest that the taxonomy of this recently described species is not fully resolved and may represent its own species complex. To examine the basis of sympatric differentiation between the two morphs, we combined analyses of micro- and macro-skeletal morphology with genome wide sequencing of the coral host, as

SUBMITTER: Smith H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5577224 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature