Publication Date:
2021-05-19
Description:
Because of the morphological plasticity of corals, especially in Acropora, in response to
environmental variations, the taxonomical studies of this genus have always been difficult.
That was the main reason behind the introduction of ectomorphs as species in many instances.
One of these misidentified cases is that of the Acropora clathrate, which has been reported
from the northern and northeastern parts of the Persian Gulf several times. But the presence of
this species in the Persian Gulf has been questioned for many years by researchers. To answer
this question once and for all, 74 colonies of both forms of Acropora downingi, or the two
supposed species, A. downingi and A. clathrata, were sampled from three islands, namely
Larak, Farur and Khark, located along the east–west axis of the Persian Gulf, and studied
from both a morphological and molecular point of view. The results of the morphological
studies demonstrated that the observed variations in the studied characteristics were indeed
intraspecific variations and all of the specimens belonged to the same species, i.e. A.
downingi. The results were also confirmed by molecular studies, signifying the absence of A.
clathrata in, at least, the northern and northeastern parts of the Persian Gulf, if not in the
Persian Gulf in general. Therefore, it was the other form of A. downingi which had been
misidentified as A. clathrata.
Description:
Published
Keywords:
Acropora downingi
;
Intraspecific diversity
;
Staghorn corals
;
Coral reefs
;
Microsatellite
;
Survey
;
Morphological
;
Morphometric
;
Genetic
;
Morphologic
Repository Name:
AquaDocs
Type:
Journal Contribution
,
Refereed
Format:
pp.13-25
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