Banca de DEFESA: SAULO SANTANA FREITAS SERRA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : SAULO SANTANA FREITAS SERRA
DATE: 23/03/2023
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Instituto de Biologia - Salão Nobre e pelo link a ser gerado pela Orientadora
TITLE:

Scleractinia, Dendrophylliidae, corais não-nativos, espécie pseudoindigena, taxonomia, Atlantico Sul-Ocidental

KEY WORDS:

Scleractinia, Dendrophylliidae, non-native corals, pseudoindigenous species, taxonomy, Southwestern Atlantic

PAGES: 80
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Zoologia
SUMMARY:

Since the first records of the sun corals in the Southwestern Atlantic it has been mistakenly assumed that the identification of the dendrophylliids could be promptly defined without a robust taxonomic analysis. In this way, two species, Tubastraea coccinea (plocoid corallites) and Tubastraea tagusensis (dendroid corallites), have been cited over almost two decades (mainly in ecological studies), without the perception that the identifications are being circumstantially influenced by a single aspect: the development of corallites. Thus, all plocoid colonies are Tubastraea coccinea, while the dendroid ones are Tubastraea tagusensis. Introduced in 2008, and for the first time recorded in a shipwreck in the Todos-os-Santos Bay (TSB), these non-native corals have spread through natural and artificial environments, being regularly found in pier columns, decks and shipyards. Meanwhile, between 2021 and 2022, four new species of sun corals were described in the South China Sea. It has been assumed that modern coral taxonomy must be based not only on corallite macromorphology, but also on the micromorphology patterns of theca, septa and columella as well. This wide approach is strongly demanded principally when the taxa form species complexes with congeners having a notable morphological variation, and with an overlapping of the diagnostic characters occurring among the morphotypes. This is the scenario of the gradually emerging inconsistencies of the taxonomy of the Atlantic dendrophylliids. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to access the morphological variation and infer about the interspecific limits of the species popularly designated as ‘sun corals’ in the Bahia State. Colonies from fouling communities were collected and analyzed. Skeletal macro and micromorphology, as well as scanning electron microscopy images, corroborated the taxonomic approach. As a result, we describe two new sun corals species of the genus Tubastraea (pseudoindigenous sensu Carlton 2008) and, three new occurrences for Brazil – among these, Atlantia caboverdiana (= Tubastraea caboverdiana), previously reported to the Northeastern Atlantic. Therefore, in addition to the morphological variation of a group of exotic corals introduced in the Atlantic Ocean, in fact, it is likely that the diversity of Dendrophylliidae is being underestimated around the world.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - ANDRÉ CARRARA MORANDINI - USP
Externo à Instituição - FÁBIO LANG DA SILVEIRA - USP
Presidente - 3496547 - ELIZABETH GERARDO NEVES