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New records and molecular characterization of Acrozoanthus (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) and its endosymbionts (Symbiodinium spp.) from Taiwan

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Abstract

During a recent survey of the zoanthid (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) fauna of Taiwan, specimens resembling Acrozoanthus australiae (family Zoanthidae) were found at Kenting and Green Island, Taiwan, attached to eunicid worm tubes growing out from under large Porites coral colonies in coral reef environments. As this species had previously been described only from eunicid worm tubes in mud flats in Australia and Indonesia, and no studies had specifically examined its phylogenetic position, molecular and morphological examinations were conducted to determine the identity of the Taiwan specimens, and its phylogenetic relationships with other Zoanthidae genera and species. At the same time, endosymbiotic Symbiodinium types within specimens were also investigated. Results from the phylogenetic analyses of sequences of three DNA markers [cytochrome oxidase subunit I, mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA, internal transcribed spacer 2 of ribosomal DNA (ITS-2)] strongly suggested that the Taiwan specimens were identical with A. australiae. Based on endosymbiont ITS-2 sequences, these colonies were in symbiosis with Symbiodinium clade D1a (= S. trenchii), theorized to be adapted to both comparatively cold and hot marine environments. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses from all three zoanthid DNA markers suggest that Acrozoanthus may be within the closely related genus Zoanthus. This study demonstrates the overall lack of data on zoanthid species’ distributions, and it is recommended the diversity of zoanthids within the nearby Coral Triangle be investigated to link Indo-Australian zoanthid data with information from Japan and the northwest Pacific.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Chaolun Allen Chen and Dr. Yoko Nozawa (Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica) and the members of their laboratory for invaluable assistance in the field. Prof. Euichi Hirose, Dr. Masami Obuchi, Yuka Irei, and Takuma Fujii (all University of the Ryukyus) also greatly assisted with sample collection. Dr. Frederic Sinniger (Florida State University) offered helpful comments in the writing and editing of this manuscript, and kindly provided specimen MISE 1053, as well as the original ITS-rDNA sequence from this specimen. Dr. Todd LaJeunesse (Pennsylvania State University) offered advice on Symbiodinium analyses. Catalina Aguilar (University of the Ryukyus) and Dr. Yuji Inagaki (University of Tsukuba) helped with phylogenetic analyses. The first author was funded by a grant-in-aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (“Wakate B” no. 21770089), and the Rising Star Program at the University of the Ryukyus. Three anonymous reviewers’ comments greatly improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Rising Star Program, Transdisciplinary Research Organization for Subtropical Island Studies (TRO-SIS), University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru 1, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    James Davis Reimer & Mamiko Hirose

  2. Marine Biodiversity Research Program, Institute of Biogeosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan

    James Davis Reimer

  3. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Sohta A. Ishikawa

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  1. James Davis Reimer
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Correspondence to James Davis Reimer.

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Fig. S1

ML tree of the ITS-rDNA sequences for clade D Symbiodinium including specimens from this study. Values at branches represent ML and NJ bootstrap probabilities, respectively. New isolates and sequences from this study in bold (GIF 116 kb)

High resolution image (EPS 309 kb)

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Davis Reimer, J., Ishikawa, S.A. & Hirose, M. New records and molecular characterization of Acrozoanthus (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) and its endosymbionts (Symbiodinium spp.) from Taiwan. Mar Biodiv 41, 313–323 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-010-0069-5

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