Biodiversity and biogeography of zooxanthellate soft corals across the Indo-Pacific

Documentation of biodiversity and its geographical distribution is necessary to understand the processes and drivers of evolutionary diversification as well as to guide conservation and management initiatives. Among the most emblematic patterns of biodiversity in the world's oceans is the Coral Triangle (Indo-Australian Archipelago), widely recognized to be the center of species richness for a variety of marine life forms. The distribution of biodiversity remains incompletely documented, however, for a majority of reef-associated invertebrate taxa, including the zooxanthellate soft corals (Octocorallia) that dominate hard substrate on many Indo-Pacific reefs. We used a genetic approach to document the diversity of Indo-Pacific soft corals, sequencing two single-locus barcoding markers for > 4400 soft coral specimens and assigning individuals to molecular operational taxonomic units as proxies of species. We document two centers of species richness for zooxanthellate soft corals, one in the Indo-Australian Archipelago and a second, equally diverse center in the Western Indian Ocean. Centers of endemicity for soft corals are coincident with these centers of species richness, although the peripheral Red Sea and Hawaii also support high proportions of endemic taxa. The patterns documented here suggest that biogeographic distributions of soft coral families may be driven in part by larval dispersal potential: taxa with benthic larvae are absent from most oceanic islands of the central Pacific and are represented by higher proportions of endemic taxa in other geographic regions. Our findings demonstrate the distinct biogeographic patterns among reef taxa and underscore the need to document and analyze species distributions of more reef-associated invertebrate groups to derive a complete picture of reef biogeography.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Reports
Published
2025-05-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98790-7
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.87

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article

Biodiversity and biogeography of zooxanthellate soft corals across the Indo-Pacific

Danwei Huang, Yuka Kushida, Laura Macrina, Jue Alef A. Lalas et al.
4 citations
Scientific Reports
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
6.87
article

Biodiversity and biogeography of zooxanthellate soft corals across the Indo-Pacific

Danwei Huang, Yuka Kushida, Laura Macrina, Jue Alef A. Lalas, J. G. Nelson, Bibiana Américo Fernando Nassongole, Katie Erickson, Karen E. Snyder, Catherine S. McFadden, Steven Aguilar, James Davis Reimer, Francesca Benzoni, Alfred T. Lane, Maria Vanessa Baria‐Rodriguez, Andrea M. Quattrini, Kaveh Samimi‐Namin, Risa Purow-Ruderman, Susan E. Poole, Gustav Paulay, Yehuda Benayahu, Merrick Ekins, Natalie P Minor, Mildred Morales-Paredes, Asha Peddada, Rafael Porto, Theo Wismar, Sabra K Dunakey, Kathleen M Durkin
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Documentation of biodiversity and its geographical distribution is necessary to understand the processes and drivers of evolutionary diversification as well as to guide conservation and management initiatives. Among the most emblematic patterns of biodiversity in the world's oceans is the Coral Triangle (Indo-Australian Archipelago), widely recognized to be the center of species richness for a variety of marine life forms. The distribution of biodiversity remains incompletely documented, however, for a majority of reef-associated invertebrate taxa, including the zooxanthellate soft corals (Octocorallia) that dominate hard substrate on many Indo-Pacific reefs. We used a genetic approach to document the diversity of Indo-Pacific soft corals, sequencing two single-locus barcoding markers for > 4400 soft coral specimens and assigning individuals to molecular operational taxonomic units as proxies of species. We document two centers of species richness for zooxanthellate soft corals, one in the Indo-Australian Archipelago and a second, equally diverse center in the Western Indian Ocean. Centers of endemicity for soft corals are coincident with these centers of species richness, although the peripheral Red Sea and Hawaii also support high proportions of endemic taxa. The patterns documented here suggest that biogeographic distributions of soft coral families may be driven in part by larval dispersal potential: taxa with benthic larvae are absent from most oceanic islands of the central Pacific and are represented by higher proportions of endemic taxa in other geographic regions. Our findings demonstrate the distinct biogeographic patterns among reef taxa and underscore the need to document and analyze species distributions of more reef-associated invertebrate groups to derive a complete picture of reef biogeography.

Scientific ReportsVol. 15(1)
Smithsonian Institution (US), Kagoshima University (JP), Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL), Florida Museum of Natural History (US), Harvey Mudd College (US), National Museum of Natural History (US), National University of Singapore (SG), Queensland Museum (AU), University of the Ryukyus (JP), University of Florida (US), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA), University of the Philippines Diliman (PH)
National Science Foundation, United States - Israel Binational Science Foundation, Harvey Mudd College, National Science Council, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Conseil Régional de La Réunion
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
6.87
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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