Species Verification and Fundamental Demographics of Leptastrea Purpurea in Kāne'ohe Bay, O'ahu, Hawai'i

Abstract

Climate change is threatening coral reef health across the globe. Knowledge of the fundamental biology of coral species is essential to designing effective conservation strategies for coral reef ecosystems. Leptastrea pupurea is an encrusting coral that is resilient to elevated temperatures and eutrophication, yet overwhelmingly understudied. This research seeks to understand the fundamental biology of L. purpurea to better use this species in reef restoration efforts. DNA was extracted from 64 colonies distributed across three spatial scales in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi to assess fine scale demographic relationships among colonies. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees were built using assembled mitochondrial genomes from these samples, as well as twelve previously published samples from across the Indo-Pacific from across the Indo-Pacific to determine the relative relationship of Hawaiian Leptastrea purpurea to those across the broader range. We found that putative L. purpurea exhibits unique genetic diversity in Hawaiʻi compared to the Indo-Pacific. These data suggest a potential undescribed species of Leptastrea in the Hawaiian islands, highlighting the importance of verifying the fundamental biology of species to design effective place-based conservation strategies.