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Updated: Jul 21, 2026

A Protocol for Bioinspired Design: A Ground Sampler Based on Sea Urchin Jaws
Published on: April 24, 2016
Hybridization and the evolution of reef coral diversity
Steven V Vollmer1, Stephen R Palumbi
1Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. svollmer@oeb.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Hundreds of coral species coexist sympatrically on reefs, reproducing in mass-spawning events where hybridization appears common. In the Caribbean, DNA sequence data from all three sympatric Acropora corals show that mass spawning does not erode species barriers. Species A. cervicornis and A. palmata are distinct at two nuclear loci or share ancestral alleles. Morphotypes historically given the name Acropora prolifera are entirely F(1) hybrids of these two species, showing morphologies that depend on which species provides the egg for hybridization. Although selection limits the evolutionary potential of hybrids, F(1) individuals can reproduce asexually and form long-lived, potentially immortal hybrids with unique morphologies.
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