Fine-scale structure among mesophotic populations of the great star coral Montastraea cavernosa revealed by SNP genotyping.

ABSTRACT: Mesophotic reefs (30-150 m) have been proposed as potential refugia that facilitate the recovery of degraded shallow reefs following acute disturbances such as coral bleaching and disease. However, because of the technical difficulty of collecting samples, the connectivity of adjacent mesophotic reefs is relatively unknown compared with shallower counterparts. We used genotyping by sequencing to assess fine-scale genetic structure of Montastraea cavernosa at two sites at Pulley Ridge, a mesophotic coral reef ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico, and downstream sites along the Florida Reef Tract. We found differentiation between reefs at Pulley Ridge (~68 m) and corals at downstream upper mesophotic depths in the Dry Tortugas (28-36 m) and shallow reefs in the northern Florida Keys (Key B

SUBMITTER: Drury C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7319168 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature