title: Mating system variation in the hermaphroditic brooding coral, Seriatopora hystrix.
abstract: Self-compatible, hermaphroditic marine invertebrates have the potential to self-fertilize in the absence of mates or under sperm-limited conditions, and outcross when sperm is available from a variety of males. Hence, many hermaphroditic marine invertebrates may have evolved mixed-mating systems that involve facultative self-fertilization. Such mixed-mating strategies are well documented for plants but have rarely been investigated in animals. Here, I use allozyme markers to make estimates of selfing from population surveys of reef slope and reef flat sites, and contrast this with direct estimates of selfing from progeny-array analysis, for the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix. Consistent heterozygote deficits previously reported for S. hystrix suggests that inbreeding (including the extreme of selfing) may be common in this species. I detected significant levels of inbreeding within populations (F(IS)=0.48) and small but significant differentiation among all sites (F(ST)=0.04). I detected no significant differentiation among habitats (F(HT)=0.009) though among site differentiation did occur within the reef slope habitat (F(SH)=0.06), but not within the reef flat habitat (F(SH)=0.015). My direct estimates of outcrossing for six colonies and their progeny from a single reef flat site revealed an intermediate value (t(m) (+/-s.d.)=0.53+/-0.20). Inbreeding coefficients calculated from progeny arrays (F(e)=0.31) were similar to indirect estimates based on adult genotype frequencies for that site (F(IS)=0.38). This study confirms that the mating system of this brooding coral is potentially variable, with both outcrossing and selfing.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Conservation Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. csherman@uow.edu.au
authors.forename: C D H
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Sherman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D001315:Australia; D017753:Ecosystem; D004592:Electrophoresis, Starch Gel; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D007178:Inbreeding; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes