[Coral-List] Comments Needed on Federal ESA Listing of Three Coral Species
VassilZlatarski at aol.com
VassilZlatarski at aol.com
Sun Aug 15 07:21:31 EDT 2004
Dear Listers,
Efforts to protect the "three species" of Caribbean Acropora are necessary.
However, A. prolifera lies in a special category. In the past it was
described many times as a separate species, but my field observations and collection
work cast doubt on its independent status. I described it in 1982 as A.
prolifera ?, leaving to the future studies to find satisfactory answer. Now
important discoveries of scleractinian life history traits offer possibilities of
new taxonomic interpretations. Carden Wallace (1999) suggested that A.
prolifera may occur as a hybrid between the other two Caribbean Acropora species. The
hybrid nature of A. prolifera was then shown by works of van Oppen, Willis,
van Vugt and Miller (2000), Vollmer and Palumbi (2002) and Miller and van Oppen
(2003). There are also some indications of a possible pedomorphosis effect
as cause of prolifera morphology.
In taking measures to protect Caribbean Acropora it may be necessary to
address whether or not the regulations cover hybrids. The hybrid nature of A.
prolifera and its obviously limited reproductive potential needs additional
special attention and care.
This case brings out how important the taxonomy is in decisions and plans to
save the biological diversity. A workshop on taxonomy and nomenclature of
Caribbean scleractinians could not only help to this problem, but to facilitate
better communication among coral workers.
With best wishes,
Vassil Zlatarski
131 Fales Rd.,
Bristol, RI 02809
phone: +1-401-254-5121
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