Pinzón-Campos, Jorge H.

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    A multivariate review of the taxonomy of the scleractinian genus Meandrina (Lamarck, 1801) in the Caribbean
    (2004-05) Pinzón-Campos, Jorge H.; Weil, Ernesto F.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Aponte, Nilda E.; Tosteson, Thomas; Department of Marine Sciences; Alfaro, Monica
    The genus Meandrina is a widely distributed scleractinian group in the western Atlantic. The specific taxonomy within the genus remains confusing due to short and poorly detailed descriptions, lack of statistically-based morphometrics and lack of more information on the different taxa. After the first species was described by Linneaus in 1758, some twelve other species and forms were described up to 1901, when Vaughan synonimized them into two species, M. meandrites and M. brasiliensis, and suggested that the free living species in the Caribbean could be M. danae (Milne-Edwards and Haime, 1848), a seldom recognized taxon. More recently, a third taxon, M. meandrites memorialis was proposed by Zlatarski and Martínez-Estalella (1982) after lumping the new, monospecific genus Goureaugyra memorialis within the Meandrina. Recent observations indicate that three distinct morphologies are widespread through the wider Caribbean. A multivariate approach (ecological, reproductive and morphometrics) was used to clarify the taxonomy of these morphologies. Ecological information from seven reefs off La Parguera, Puerto Rico, showed variable distribution patterns and similar size frequencies but, significant differences among the three taxa in population densities across reef zones, reef localities and depths. Histological analysis of 5-10 colonies/morph/month over 14 months, showed similarities in gametogenetic cycles and mode of reproduction, but different spawning times for the three taxa. Univariate analyses of sixteen morphometric characters measured in 32 colonies of M. meandrites, 45 of M. memorialis, 46 of M. “brasiliensis” (= M. danae?), and the holotype of G. memorialis (USNM 45703) showed significant differences among the morphs in all but one character. Canonical discriminant function analysis separated three distinct groups (97.6% of all colonies correctly classified) and the G. memorialis colony. These results with an extensive review of the available information and museum specimens indicated that (1) M. “brasiliensis” in the Caribbean is distinct from the other Caribbean taxa and M. brasiliensis from Brazil and should be named M. danae, (2) M. meandrina memorialis is a synonym of M. meandrites, the original described species, and (3) the third taxon, a morphology previously confused with M. meandrites, is significantly different from the other two and needs to be re-described.