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Species Diversity of Shallow Water Zoanthids (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) in Florida
Joint Authors
Foord, Colin
Irei, Yuka
Reimer, James Davis
Source
Issue
Vol. 2012, Issue 2012 (31 Dec. 2012), pp.1-14, 14 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2012-09-03
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
14
Main Subjects
Earth Science , Water and Environment
Abstract EN
Shallow water zooxanthellate zoanthids are a common component of the coral reef ecosystems of the Caribbean.
Despite this, their species diversity remains poorly understood.
In this study, collected Palythoa, Zoanthus, Isaurus, and Terrazoanthus specimens from the waters of Florida were phylogenetically examined to obtain a better understanding of zoanthid species diversity in the Caribbean.
Surprisingly, the results from analyses utilizing three DNA markers (mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I, and the internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA) showed the presence of at least eleven species, of which up to four appear undescribed.
Additionally, the presence of the genus Terrazoanthus in the Caribbean was confirmed for the first time.
Attempts to match phylogenetic species or clades with original literature were hampered by vague and short original descriptions, and it is clear that for Atlantic Palythoa and Zoanthus species an in-depth and multidisciplinary investigation is needed to reconcile recent phylogenetic results such as in this study with traditional taxonomy.
Furthermore, most shallow water zoanthid species from Florida were observed to have close, sister-species relationships with previously investigated species in the Pacific Ocean.
These results indicate that many brachycnemic zoanthid species likely had a Caribbean-Pacific distribution until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama.
However, due to inadvertent redescriptions, overall species diversity in these two common genera is likely much lower than literature indicates.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Reimer, James Davis& Foord, Colin& Irei, Yuka. 2012. Species Diversity of Shallow Water Zoanthids (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) in Florida. Journal of Marine Sciences،Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-14.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-997018
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Reimer, James Davis…[et al.]. Species Diversity of Shallow Water Zoanthids (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) in Florida. Journal of Marine Sciences No. 2012 (2012), pp.1-14.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-997018
American Medical Association (AMA)
Reimer, James Davis& Foord, Colin& Irei, Yuka. Species Diversity of Shallow Water Zoanthids (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) in Florida. Journal of Marine Sciences. 2012. Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-14.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-997018
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-997018