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Family: Acroporidae
Fused Staghom Coral
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Bocas Species Database Distribution: Islas Bastimentos, Solarte, Carenero, Colon. Distributed in the wide Caribbean, where it varies from being locally rare to occurring in large patches. Natural History Notes: In reef habitats, several coral species sympatrically coexist (inhabiting the same geographic location), leading to spawning events where hybridization can occur and appears to be a common event. Acropora prolifera is an intermediate between Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata and it is thought to be of a hybrid origin. This hypothesis is based on the high heterozygosity of the Pax-C intron. In a study conducted by Vollmer and Palumbi (2002), the DNA sequence variation at three loci of these three species, which occur sympatrically in reef habitat, were analyzed. The results showed that the species A. cervicornis and A. palmata are genetically distinct and that the species Acropora prolifera is actually a first-generation (F1) hybrid. The study suggested that reef-building coral diversity is enhanced by hybridization through the production of long-lived asexual hybrid morphotypes, which have little evolutionary potential, such as the species Acropora prolifera. Characteristics: This species is a first-generation (F1) hybrid. |