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Cryptic genetic divergence within threatened species of Acropora coral from the Indian and Pacific Oceans

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Abstract

Most hard corals have broad distributions, and historically this was attributed to their capability for extensive dispersal leading to high evolutionary and demographic inter-dependence among regions. More recently there has been a paradigm shift in the understanding of coral dispersal, driven largely by genetic evidence, which has put greater emphasis on self-recruitment and larval retention. There is now a growing body of evidence that morphologically cryptic species exist within many recognized ‘species’ of stony corals. Here, we characterise levels of genetic divergence within and between five species of Acropora sampled from disparate populations spanning the Indo-Pacific Oceans. We find that strong regional genetic differentiation corresponding to the separation of the Indian and Pacific Ocean basins is a consistent pattern in three of the five species examined. Furthermore, the extent of allopatric divergence within species is similar to that observed between species, implying negligible contemporary gene flow between regions in four of the five species examined. This is consistent with the presence of numerous morphologically cryptic allopatric subspecies or incipient Acropora species. If this is confirmed, the conservation status of several species, which are already demonstrably threatened, would require re-evaluation so that risks including silent extinctions and inappropriate translocations are properly managed.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to staff of the Orpheus Island Research Station, the College of the Marshall Islands and the Walindii Research Station. We gratefully acknowledge our colleagues who collected additional samples used in this study (Akira Iguchi; Natalie Rosser; David Abrego; Paul Muir). Thank you to Carden Wallace for verifying specimen identifications and Barbara Done for specimen curation at the Museum of Tropical Queensland. We thank Lesa Peplow and Mr. Andy Muirhead for their assistance in labwork conducted at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. We appreciate the constructive comments by an anonymous reviewer. ZR was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Fellowship at James Cook University and an International Society for Reef Studies Fellowship. ZR was supported in the write-up phase by Woodside Energy.

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  1. Department of Aquatic Zoology, Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, WA, 6106, Australia

    Zoe T. Richards

  2. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, PMB 5, Floreat, WA, 6014, Australia

    Oliver Berry

  3. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, MC, 4810, Australia

    Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

  4. School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia

    Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

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  1. Zoe T. Richards
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Richards, Z.T., Berry, O. & van Oppen, M.J.H. Cryptic genetic divergence within threatened species of Acropora coral from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Conserv Genet 17, 577–591 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-015-0807-0

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