Molecular assessment of Pocillopora verrucosa (Scleractinia; Pocilloporidae) distribution along a depth gradient in Ludao, Taiwan

It can be challenging to identify scleractinian corals from the genus Pocillopora (Lamarck 1816) in the field because of their large range of inter- and intra-specific morphological variation that co-occur with changes in the physical environment. This task is made more arduous in the context of a depth gradient, where light and water current could greatly affect the morphology of the corallum. Pocillopora verrucosa (Ellis and Solander, 1786) in Taiwan was previously reported exclusively from shallow waters (<10m in depth), but a recent observation of this species in the mesophotic zone (>40m in depth) questions this bathymetric distribution. We used the mitochondrial open reading frame and the histone 3 molecular markers to investigate the vertical and horizontal spatial distribution of P. verrucosa around Ludao (Green Island), Taiwan. We genotyped 101 Pocillopora verrucosa-like colonies collected from 4 depth zones, ranging from 7 to 45m, at 3 sites around the island. Of the 101...