Population genetics of the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix reveals patterns of strong genetic differentiation in the Western Indian Ocean.

ABSTRACT: Coral reefs provide essential goods and services but are degrading at an alarming rate due to local and global anthropogenic stressors. The main limitation that prevents the implementation of adequate conservation measures is that connectivity and genetic structure of populations are poorly known. Here, the genetic diversity and connectivity of the brooding scleractinian coral Seriatopora hystrix were assessed at two scales by genotyping ten microsatellite markers for 356 individual colonies. S. hystrix showed high differentiation, both at large scale between the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), and at smaller scale along the coast of East Africa. As such high levels of differentiation might indicate the presence of more than one species, a haploweb analysis was conducted with t

SUBMITTER: van der Ven RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8027388 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature