Phylogenetic position and taxonomy of Cycloseris explanulata and C. wellsi (Scleractinia: Fungiidae): lost mushroom corals find their way home

By Francesca Benzoni, R. Arrigoni, F. Stefani, B. Reijnen, S. Montano, B. Hoeksema. 2012

104 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The scleractinian species Psammocora explanulata and Coscinaraea wellsi were originally classified in the family Siderastreidae, but in a recent morpho-molecular study it appeared that they are more closely related to each other and to the Fungiidae than to any siderastreid taxon. A subsequent morpho-molecular study of the Fungiidae provided new insights regarding the phylogenetic relationships within that family. In the present study existing molecular data sets of both families were analyzed jointly with those of new specimens and sequences of P. explanulata and C. wellsi. The results indicate that both species actually belong to the Cycloseris clade within the family Fungiidae. A reappraisal of their morphologic characters based on museum specimens and recently collected material substantiate the molecular results. Consequently, they are renamed Cycloseris explanulata and C. wellsi. They are polystomatous and encrusting like C. mokai, another species recently added to the genus, whereas all Cycloseris species were initially thought to be monostomatous and free-living. In the light of the new findings, the taxonomy and distribution data of C. explanulata and C. wellsi have been updated and revised. Finally, the ecological implications of the evolutionary history of the three encrusting polystomatous Cycloseris species and their free-living monostomatous congeners are discussed.

Subfields: Ecology, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/594ae76c4603c167152ce266b787a6b11b788d6b

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

1. Francesca Benzoni
2. H. Fukami
3. Danwei Huang
4. M. Kitahara
5. J. Stolarski
6. B. Hoeksema
7. F. Stefani
8. Paolo Galli

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. H. Fukami
2. Francesca Benzoni
3. Danwei Huang
4. B. Hoeksema

In Oceanography

1. Francesca Benzoni
2. H. Fukami
3. B. Hoeksema
4. F. Stefani

Citations in the corpus

• A phylogeny reconstruction of the Dendrophylliidae (Cnidaria, Scleractinia) based on molecular and micromorphological criteria, and its ecological implications (2014, methodology): “…reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships among shallow-water scleractinians (Cairns1984b, 1997, 2001; Hoeksema 1989, 1993a; Wallace et al. 1991; Wallace 1999) were largely uninformative and prompted the quest for alternatives (Benzoni et al. 2007, 2011, 2012a,b; Budd & Stolarski 2009, 2011).”
• The new systematics of scleractinia: Integrating molecular and morphological evidence (2016, background): “…remain split between concatenating markers to obtain hidden support (Huang et al. 2011; Addamo et al. 2012; Arrigoni et al. 2012, 2014a, b, c; Benzoni et al. 2012b) and making separate estimations of gene trees (Benzoni et al. 2011, 2012a, 2014; Gittenberger et al. 2011; Bongaerts et al.…”