Cycloseris

Abstract: Summary: A new Fungia species from the Bismarck Sea is described and its taxonomic position is discussed. INTRODUCTION The Fungiidae have an important place among Indo-Pacific scleractinian reef corals. Many nominal species have been described in this family, but only about 40 of them proved to be valid (Hoeksema, in prep.) which is roughly 10% of the total number of living Indo-Pacific reef coral species. Only a few of these species do not occur in the central part of the Indo-Pacific, or more specifically the Indo-Malayan Region. The new species has been collected by both authors from different locations in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In the most recent generic revision of the Fungiidae, the genera Fungia Lamarck, 1801 and Cycloseris Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 are kept separate (Wells, 1966). The new species described below shows a combination of characters hitherto considered characteristic for either the former or the latter genus. Therefore the relationship between both genera is also discussed. The type material is deposited at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden (RMNH) and at the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles (IRSNB). TAXONOMIC ACCOUNT Fungia (Verrillofungia) spinifer spec. nov. (figs. 2-8) Type material. - RMNH 17620 (holotype); 17621,17622,17623, IRSNB 27009-401 (paratypes of Fungia spinifer, type loc. Laing Island, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea); RMNH 17624, IRSNB 27009-402 (paratypes of F. spinifer, loc. Madang, Papua New Guinea). Description. - The corals are solitary and free-living. The diameter of the specimens in the type series varies from 5.0 to 12.5 cm and their outline varies from circular to slightly oval. The aboral surface is either slightly concave, flat

Abstract: Mushroom corals are reef corals of the family Fungiidae, which live in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region. Recently, most species of this family have been revised taxonomically based on morphological and molecular analyses. However, the phylogenetic position of Cycloseris hexagonalis ( Milne Edwards and Haime, 1848 ) has not been analyzed and remains unclear. This species is believed to show allometric growth by changing its corallum shape from hexagonal in juveniles to irregularly circular with an undulated corallum margin in mature individuals. However, these morphological changes have not been monitored and their genetic basis has not been confirmed. In the present study morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed to evaluate the identity of the morpho-types in C. hexagonalis and to clarify the phylogenetic and taxonomic position of the species. In the morphological analysis, we used 20 specimens of C. hexagonalis collected from around Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan, and identified four morphotypes. Moreover, the molecular phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial COI and nuclear ITS markers showed that all morpho-types of C. hexagonalis together form an independent clade, indicating that they are all conspecific. Molecular phylogenetic comparison between this species and other fungiids revealed that the clade of C. hexagonalis is clearly distant from the Cycloseris clade as well as from clades representing other genera in the Fungiidae. Considering these data, we establish a monotypic new genus, Sinuorota, to accommodate C. hexagonalis.

Abstract: Fringing reefs of Andaman & Nicobar group of islands harbor 45 species of mushroom corals species up to the depth of 30 m. An individual of Cycloseris somervillei (Gardiner, 1909) was sampled from five study areas. Seven different morphological characters of each specimen of the target species were measured. Those characters were differed significantly among the specimens of study sites. Environmental parameter viz. temperature and rainfall was also measured to make a correlation between morphological differences and environmental factors. Depth plays a crucial role in the alteration of structural conformation. Underwater visibility also has an impact on the structural variation of the same species at different sites. This paper deals with the morphological variation of a species of mushroom coral i. e. Cycloseris somervillei in response to the environmental clues.

Abstract: On a patch reef off Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia, corals identified as Fungia (Cycloseris) costulata, Fungia (Cycloseris) tenuis and Fungia (Cycloseris) cf costulata were collected down to a maximum depth of 10 m. The corals lived sympatrically. Mushroom coral clones resulting from fragmentation can be recognized by their equal coloration and close proximity. Therefore, to ensure that no clones were collected, corals of dissimilar colors were selected at a mutual distance of 5 m. The corals were kept alive in two 30 liter sea-water aquariums with an air-pump. They were photographed in detail. Using allozyme electrophoresis in a laboratory close to the field area, it was tested whether the separate coral morphs should be considered three species. Eventually it was concluded that there are only two species, i.e. F. (C.) costulata and F. (C.) tenuis, of which F. (C.) costulata has two distinct morphs, one of which may be an eco-phenotype occurring on reefs off river outlets or inside estuaries.