Debating phylogenetic relationships of the scleractinian Psammocora: molecular and morphological evidences

By Francesca Benzoni, F. Stefani, J. Stolarski, M. Pichon, G. Mitta, Paolo Galli. 2007

102 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The phylogenetic relationships of the scleractinian genus Psammocora with the other genera traditionally included in the family Siderastreidae and some Fungiidae are assessed based on combined skeletal and molecular data. P. explanulata differs from the other examined congeneric species (P. contigua, P. digitata, P. nierstraszi, P. profundacella, P. superficialis, and P. stellata) in possessing interstomatous septa between adult corallites, costae, and in having continuous buttress-like structures joining septal faces (i.e., fulturae) which typically occur in fungiids. These characters are shared with Coscinaraea wellsi but not with the remainder of the examined siderastreids (the congeneric C. columna, and Anomastraea irregularis, Horastrea indica, Pseudosiderastrea tayamai, Siderastrea savignyana) whose septa are interconnected by typical synapticulae. Most of the examined species form septa with distinct transverse groups of centers of calcification, a biomineralization pattern typical of the Robusta clade. The observations on skeletal structures corroborate the results of the ITS2 and 5.8S molecular phylogeny. C. wellsi and P. explanulata are phylogenetically very close to each other and show closer genetic affinity with the examined Fungiidae (Halomitra pileus, Herpolitha limax, Fungia paumotensis, and Podabacia crustacea) than with the other species in the genera Psammocora and Coscinaraea, or with any other siderastreid. Our results show that neither Psammocora nor Coscinaraea are monophyletic genera. The high genetic distances between the species of Siderastreidae, especially between Pseudosiderastrea tayamai and Siderastrea savignyana on one side and the other genera on the other, suggest a deep divergence in the phylogenetic structure of the family.

Subfields: Molecular Biology, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/6e7b5e0b9d89652112540eb560fabfc74c6ad31b

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Citations in the corpus

A phylogeny reconstruction of the Dendrophylliidae (Cnidaria, Scleractinia) based on molecular and micromorphological criteria, and its ecological implications (2014, background): “…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).”
A molecularly based phylogeny reconstruction of mushroom corals (Scleractinia: Fungiidae) with taxonomic consequences and evolutionary implications for life history traits (2011, background): “Thanks to the present study, molecular information on fungiid species has become available, and additional species will be included in future research, among which some that were previously classified with the Siderastreidae but show stronger affinities with the Fungiidae (Benzoni et al., 2007).”
Phylogenetic position and taxonomy of Cycloseris explanulata and C. wellsi (Scleractinia: Fungiidae): lost mushroom corals find their way home (2012, background): “explanulata the structure of the colony wall is septothecal, the septa are joined by fulturae, and the costae developed, whereas in Psammocora and Coscinaraea the corallum wall is synapticulothecal, the septa are joined by synapticulae and costae are not developed (Benzoni et al., 2007).”
The name game: morpho‐molecular species boundaries in the genus Psammocora (Cnidaria, Scleractinia) (2010, methodology): “Although the type material of P. vaughani has been declared lost (Benzoni et al., 2007) and could not be included in the morphometric analyses of types in this paper, the good illustrations of the specimens described by Yabe et al. (1936) allow some comments on the morphologic affinities between…”
The new systematics of scleractinia: Integrating molecular and morphological evidence (2016, background): “Siderastreidae has thus been split into Siderastreidae, Psammocoridae and Coscinaraeidae, with two species transferred into Fungiidae.”
Blind to morphology: genetics identifies several widespread ecologically common species and few endemics among Indo‐Pacific cauliflower corals (Pocillopora, Scleractinia) (2013, background): “…their evolutionary relationships, rather than strictly employing morphological features (Lopez et al., 1999; Medina et al., 1999; Fukami et al., 2004; Benzoni et al., 2007, 2010; Stefani et al., 2008; Eytan et al., 2009; Forsman et al., 2009, 2010; Huang et al., 2011; Pinz on & LaJeunesse, 2011).”
The mushroom coral as a habitat (2011, background): “Coral species that may belong to the Fungiidae according to molecular studies, but which are still classified with the Siderastreidae (Benzoni et al., 2007), i.e. Psammocora explanulata Van der Horst, 1922, and Coscinaraea wellsi Veron and Pichon, 1980, have not been included as hosts in the…”