Microsatellite genotypes and ITS2 DNA sequence data for Seriatopora hystrix

Coral reefs provide essential goods and services but are degrading at an
alarming rate due to local and global anthropogenic stressors. The main
limitation that prevents the implementation of adequate conservation
measures is that connectivity and genetic structure of populations are
poorly known. Here, the genetic diversity and connectivity of the brooding
scleractinian coral, Seriatopora hystrix were assessed at two
scales by genotyping ten microsatellite markers for 356 individual
colonies. Seriatopora hystrix showed high differentiation, both at large
scale between the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), and at
smaller scale along the coast of East Africa.As such high levels of
differentiation might indicate the presence of more than one species, a
haploweb analysis was conducted with the nuclear marker ITS2, confirming
that the Red Sea populations are genetically distinct from the WIO
ones.Based on microsatellite analyses three groups could be distinguished
within the WIO: (I) north Madagascar, (II) south-west Madagascar together
with one site in northern Mozambique (Nacala), and (III) all other sites
in northern Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. These patterns of restricted
connectivity could be explained by the short pelagic larval duration of S.
hystrix, and/or by oceanographic factors, such as eddies in the Mozambique
Channel (causing larval retention in northern Madagascar but facilitating
dispersal from northern Mozambique towards south-west Madagascar). This
study provides an additional line of evidence supporting the conservation
priority status of the Northern Mozambique Channel and should inform coral
reef management decisions in the region.