Title: FROM JAPAN TO THE NORTHERN TIP OF THE RED SEA: A LONG, NON-STOP JOURNEY FOR THE MESOPHOTIC SCLERACTINIAN SPECIES LEPTOSERIS AMITORIENSIS ?

Abstract: Leptoseris amitoriensis Veron, 1990 was described from Amitori Bay, Iriomote, in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. In Amitori Bay, it is a rather abundant, typically mesophotic species, found around and below 50 m depth, co-occurring with other Leptoseris species with a wider depth range, such as L. gardineri, L. papyracea and possibly other Leptoseris species. More recently the species was collected, also at mesophotic depths in several stations at Eilat and Aqaba, the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, where it can be equally abundant, forming large thickets of typically foliose colonies. Specific identity of the specimens from both locations has been confirmed by examination of colony gross morphology, both live in situ and from skeletal material, detailed stereomicroscopic examinations, Scanning Electron Microscopy imaging and genetic analyses. Comparisons of skeletal morphologies indicate that specimens from both localities are conspecific. This conclusion is also supported by the genetic data despite the complex situation of molecular evolution in Leptoseris and corals in general. The presence of the species in such widely separated areas in the Indo-Pacific, is indeed a remarkable case of complete dissociation of geographic distribution likely to be unique in the scleractinian world. We propose that such a distribution in the mesophotic environment may indicate either the presence of relict populations or a more widespread distribution in the hitherto little explored or unexplored deeper reef communities.

Authors: Pichon M, Eyal G, Sinniger F, Loya Y, Harii S

Presentation: Oral

Session: 29

Date: 06/21/16

Time: 17:15

Location: 308 A/B

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