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Hiding in plain sight: invasive coral Tubastraea tagusensis (Scleractinia:Hexacorallia) in the Gulf of Mexico

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Abstract

Our research presents the first record of Tubastraea tagusensis (Wells, Notes on Indo-Pacific scleractinian corals. Part 9. New corals from the Galápagos Islands, 1982) in the Gulf of Mexico. Specimens of Tubastraea were collected from various artificial reefs. Morphological analyses of these specimens show that there are three distinct lineages of Tubastraea that have remained cryptic due to similar morphology in the field: Tubastraea coccinea (Lesson, 1829), T. tagusensis, and a third clade containing a mix of characters of the former two. These results based on morphology are corroborated by phylogenetic and haplotype analyses using a partial sequence of the mitochondrial genes ATP8 and cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI). The negative effects on natural habitats by invasive species of Tubastraea have been documented worldwide. Therefore, it is imperative to implement management policies that will help prevent the expansion of these species into natural habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. The essential first step is accurate identification to determine possible sources, vectors, and current expansion rates. We present a clear set of morphological characters and a genetic marker to help distinguish between these three cryptic lineages.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department—Artificial Reef Program (TPWD-ARP) for allowing UTRGV divers (Heather Otte, Chelsea Pavliska, and Linda Jordan) to join their annual biological monitoring trips to the Galveston, High Island, and East Breaks lease block areas in the Gulf of Mexico for specimen collection. Specimen collections of the south Texas coast were supported by TPWD-ARP (Grant No. 475342, 2016–2018) to David Hicks. Research reported in this publication was supported in part by startup funds from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to Diego Figueroa, by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under the Grant Agreement number 2000007266 to Diego Figueroa, and by Publication supported in part by an Institutional Grant (NA14OAR4170102 to Diego Figueroa and David Hicks) to the Texas Sea Grant College Program from the National Sea Grant Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Gulf Research Program or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, One West University Boulevard, Brownsville, TX, 78520, USA

    Diego F. Figueroa, Nicole J. Figueroa & David W. Hicks

  2. Department of Biology, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, One West University Boulevard, Brownsville, TX, 78520, USA

    Amelia McClure

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  1. Diego F. Figueroa
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  2. Amelia McClure
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  3. Nicole J. Figueroa
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  4. David W. Hicks
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Correspondence to Diego F. Figueroa.

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Figueroa, D.F., McClure, A., Figueroa, N.J. et al. Hiding in plain sight: invasive coral Tubastraea tagusensis (Scleractinia:Hexacorallia) in the Gulf of Mexico. Coral Reefs 38, 395–403 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-019-01807-7

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