Odalisca Breedy

Distribution, diversity, and conservation of coral reefs and coral communities in the largest marine protected area of Pacific Panama (Coiba Island)

SUMMARY Sampling scale and lack of attention to taxa other than scleractinian corals have limited the capacity to protect coral reefs and coral communities in Pacific Panama. The distribution of coral habitats (live coral cover) and their species richness in the largest marine protected area of Panama, the Coiba National Park (270125 ha), is described using quadrat transects and manta tows. The species richness of scleractinian corals and octocorals was lower in coral reefs than in coral communities, and a close relationship between richness and live coral cover was observed only in coral communities. The distribution of high live coral cover in coral communities overlapped with areas of high coral species richness. Average live coral cover in communities was 64%, comparedto28%inreefs,whereasalgaecoverwas30%and 49%, respectively. Twenty-two coral and 34 octocoral species were observed, many only now detected in Panama as endemic or new species. Analysis of satellite imagery showed 80% of terrestrial habitats were mostly primary forest, and coral reefs and coral communities covered 1700 ha, about 2% of marine habitats. Shallow marine environments (<20 m) had up to 60% calcareous red algae cover (rhodolite beds). Basedonthedistributionoflivecoralcoverandspecies richness, three conservation units were identified as priority, with the southern and northernmost sides of the marine protected area as the most significant. These three areas encompass most of the rare and endemic species or populations, as well as species previously regarded as endangered.

Broadening reef protection across the Marine Conservation Corridor of the Eastern Tropical Pacific: distribution and diversity of reefs in Las Perlas Archipelago, Panama

The protected sites defined under the Marine Conservation Corridor of the Tropical Eastern Pacific (MCCTEP) include most of the endemism and a fraction of the areas of high diversity for reef corals and fishes. Although those areas are connected biologically over distances >600 km, lack of large-scale sampling and attention to taxa other than scleractinian corals has limited the protection of shallow coral reef and coral community habitats in some areas of the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) region, particularly non-offshore islands in Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica. The newly created Las Perlas marine protected area (1688 km 2 ), the second largest archipelago in the TEP, fills a regional conservation gap for the protection of reefs and potentially becomes the second highest coral diversity area in the MCCTEP. This study describes the distribution of live coral cover and species alpha-diversity over 307 ha of shallow coral reefs and coral communities in the Las Perlas Archipelago. Nineteen scleractinian and 38 octocorals were observed, including species previously thought to be uncommon. Although coral communities generally had a greater number of species than coral reefs, species richness did not differ between habitats. However, their coral and octocoral composition and benthic makeup (coral cover, macroalgae, sponge, etc.) differed. The reefs had higher live coral cover (61.2%) and lower algal cover (32.5%) than the coral communities (26.0% and 65.7%, respectively). Octocorals were more common in the communities than on the reefs. There was a negative relationship between live coral cover and species richness, low to moderate cover generally coinciding with coral community sites and higher species richness. Areas are recommended for marine reserve zoning within the new Las Perlas marine protected area to ensure the protection of important habitats and maintenance of diversity in the TEP, both highlighting the importance of the southern islands of the archipelago for coral diversity and the northern islands for their high live coral cover. Review of the representativeness of regional coral diversity would facilitate better design of small-scale reserves across the TEP, following comparable survey methods.

A New Species of Alcyonacean Octocoral from the Galapagos Archipelago

The genus Heterogorgia is reported for the first time from the shallow waters of the Galapagos Archipelago, and a new species found in the southern islands is described. The new species is distinguished from the other species of the genus described thus far by having thick branches with large, densely packed calyces, being mostly unbranched, and having larger sclerites. The occurrence of Heterogorgia verrucosa is also reported.

The phylogeny of Pacifigorgia (Coelenterata, Octocorallia, Gorgoniidae): a case study of the use of continuous characters in the systematics of the Octocorallia

Vargas S., Breedy O. & Guzman H. M. 2010. — The phylogeny of Pacifigorgia (Coelenterata, Octocorallia, Gorgoniidae): a case study of the use of continuous characters in the systematics of the Octocorallia. Zoosystema 32 (1): 5-18. ABSTRACT The Octocorallia constitute a group of organisms that inhabit a wide spectrum of habitats ranging from abyssal to shallow marine environments and from tropical to polar waters. As a subclass, the group is clearly defined and the clade is considered monophyletic based on a series of morphological and molecular synapomorphies. In contrast, the systematic treatment of octocorals below the subclass level is complex given the continuous nature of many of the characters used in their taxonomy. The use of continuous characters for the deduction of phylogenies generally has been considered a philosophical and methodological challenge; within the Octocorallia it has led researchers to rearrange genera, to consider character analysis problematic, or to prefer molecular data sets, which avoid morphological characters, for the study of octocoral phylogenetic relationships. In this study, we assessed the role of continuous morphological variation on the deduction of octocoral phylogenies. Specifically, we analyzed the morphologically diverse genus Pacifigorgia Bayer, 1951 and show that continuous variation, after adequate coding, represents a valuable source of information suitable for phylogenetic inference.

A new family of soft corals (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) from the aphotic tropical eastern Pacific waters revealed by integrative taxonomy

The new family Aquaumbridae is described based on distinct morphological characters and supported by a molecular phylogenetic analysis. Aquaumbridae is similar to Nidaliidae, Nepththeidae and Alcyoniidae in having arborescent colonies and lacking axis structure or stolons, but differs from them in having very different sclerite composition and having conspicuous transparent jelly-like lobes. Phylogenetic analysis of two mitochondrial genes, ND2 and mtMutS, strongly supports its placement in a separated clade. Herein we describe Aquaumbra klapferi sp. nov., gen. nov. in the new family. The organisms were obtained from the seamounts, ridges and canyons out of the insular shelf of Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, down to 400 m depth. The new species represents the first discovery of a soft coral in an eastern Pacific oceanic island, and provides hints of the biodiversity of the largely unexplored deep waters of the tropical eastern Pacific.

Two new species of gorgonian octocorals from the Tropical Eastern Pacific Biogeographic Region (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Gorgoniidae)

Abstract The gorgoniid Eugorgia is exclusively an eastern Pacific genus. It has a wide geographic and bathymetric range of distribution, found from California to Perú and extends down to 65 m deep. Two new species are herein described. The morphological characters were analyzed and illustrated by light and scanning electron microscopy. Eugorgia beebei sp. n. can be distinguished by its white, ascending, sparse colony growth. Eugorgia mutabilis sp. n. can be distinguished by its white colony that changes color after collection, and the conspicuous sharp-crested disc sclerites. From a morphological point of view the new species are related to the daniana-group, the rubens-group and the siedenburgae-group of Eugorgia; their affiliations, and the proposal of a new group are discussed. These new species increases the number of species in the genus to 15, and contribute to the knowledge of the eastern Pacific octocoral biodiversity.

Distribution and diversity of echinoderms (Asteroidea, Echinoidea, Holothuroidea) in the islands of the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama

Los estudios de equinodermos en el Pacifico Panameno han sido enfocados principalmente en analisis moleculares y evolutivos, y los pocos trabajos ecologicos se han enfatizado en dos especies: Diadema mexicanum y Acanthaster planci. En este trabajo, se describe por primera vez la diversidad (basado en los indices de Margalef, Shannon y Pielou), distribucion y densidad de equinodermos de algunas islas del Golfo de Chiriqui, utilizando una metodologia regional estandarizada para el Corredor Marino de Conservacion del Pacifico Tropical Oriental. Se estudiaron 53 sitios, encontrandose 17 especies de equinodermos: 6 asteroideos, 6 equinoideos y 5 holoturoideos. Los valores promedio de los indices de riqueza de especies, diversidad de Shannon y equidad de Pielou fueron 0,43 ± 0,04, 0,187 ± 0,020, y 0,421 ± 0,035 respectivamente. En promedio se encontro 3 especies y 176 individuos por sitio. Tres especies de equinoideos fueron las mas abundantes: D. mexicanum, Eucidaris thoaursii and Echinometra vanbrunti, con 7909, 771 y 569 individuos respectivamente. A pesar de dichas abundancias, su impacto, al igual que otros organismos coralivoros (e.g., A. planci), es bajo y por el momento no son consideradas como amenazas para los arrecifes de la zona. Los sitios con mayor riqueza y diversidad de especies estan asociados a sitios de mayor diversidad de corales y con una cobertura de coral vivo de moderada a alta. Se sugiere la evaluacion continua de las poblaciones que podrian ser perjudiciales, asi como de las especies que pueden estar bajo extraccion ilegal.

Morphology and taxonomy of a new species of Leptogorgia (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae) in Cocos Island National Park, Pacific Costa Rica

Abstract Leptogorgia tricorata is a new shallow-water species found at 14–22 m depth at two rocky islets on the north side of Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica. The branching pattern, the small size, bright yellow color, long spindles (up to 0.2 mm), and the occurrence of tentacular rods distinguish the new species from others in the genus. Gorgoniids are rare in shallow waters at Cocos Island. Including the new species there are only three species found so far in the region. Leptogorgia tricorata is described, illustrated, and compared with other similar species of the genus reported from the eastern Pacific.

How many kinds of sclerite? Towards a morphometric classification of gorgoniid microskeletal components.

Gorgoniid octocorals constitute a diverse group of organisms that inhabit a wide range of marine environments. The group is currently defined by the presence of calcareous sclerites that are less than 0.3 mm in length with regularly arranged warts. Generic and specific classification schemes are based on the presence/absence of different sclerite classes in the sampled specimen as well as the frequency in which each class occurs in the sample. Sclerite classification typically has been difficult because a continuum of sclerite forms is found within and between species. Thus, the use of sclerites for phylogenetic inference and classification is problematic. Herein, we present a methodology to obtain quantitative measurements of large numbers of sclerites and used finite mixture modeling to assess the number of statistically different sclerite classes present in the eastern Pacific octocoral genus Pacifigorgia. We also test the ability of simple neural classifiers (perceptrons) to sort sclerites into the classes traditionally used in octocoral taxonomy. This methodology can be used for other gorgoniids and can be further extended to include shape quantifiers for groups other than those studied here.

Molecules match morphology: mitochondrial DNA supports Bayer’s Lytreia–Bebryce–Heterogorgia (Alcyonacea : Octocorallia) clade hypothesis

Several studies attempting to clarify the taxonomy and systematics of Octocorallia have highlighted the important role of molecular characters in corroborating or rejecting previous hypotheses based on morphological variation. One such hypothesis is that of a close phylogenetic relationship between the genera Lytreia, Bebryce and Heterogorgia proposed by Bayer based on morphological studies of the genera. Herein, we tested Bayer’s hypothesis using the mitochondrial marker mshI. We deduced a molecular phylogeny including members of the families Gorgoniidae and ‘Paramuriceidae’ that corroborated the existence of Bayer’s Lytreia–Bebryce–Heterogorgia clade. In addition, we provide a morphological assessment of the three genera as well as diagnoses for each of them. We also discuss, based on the phylogenetic results obtained, the evolution of sclerite morphology within Bayer’s Lytreia–Bebyce–Heterogorgia clade. Finally, we propose a Tethyan origin for the Lytreia–Bebryce–Heterogorgia clade.