Using genome skimming to fill scleractinian corals (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) species gaps in GenBank with a focus on the Western Atlantic region

Shallow-water scleractinian corals are receiving great attention for the antropogenic threats that they are facing, however our knowledge of their deep-water counterparts is lagging behind. Several mesophotic and deep-sea scleractinian species housed at the Smithsonian Institution have been sequenced (genome skimming approach). The focus is on species occurring in the Western Central Atlantic to help the current effort of mapping the biodiversity of the area after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.