Hidden Differences in Bleaching Among Cryptic Coral Species

摘要

Coral bleaching in 2019 affected ~72% of Pocillopora spp. corals, killing 11– 42% of Moorea colonies (French Polynesia). It first appeared that larger colonies bleached and died more than smaller. Genetic identification and censusing of colonies before and after bleaching revealed size- dependent bleaching to be hid- den differences among at least five cryptic species. The haplotype in which most colonies died has so far only been found at Moorea. The results provide evidence for how co- occurring cryptic species could have contributed to resilience in the past through response diversity. Climate change, however, is expected to erode the importance of such diversity.