A MEANDRIINA MORPHOLOGIC PHYLOGENY

Microstructural characters are an important source of information for coral phylogenetic analysis. Used by researchers for about half a century to place species into families and suborders, their use for genera and species level phylogenetic analysis is explored in the suborder Meandriina (sensu Veron 1995) which includes in-group members from the Caribbean Sea in the genera Cladocora, Oculina, Solenastrea, Eusmilia, Meandrina, and Dichocoenia. Montastraea annularis and Montastraea cavernosa from the suborder Faviina will be used as an outgroup. SEM images, transverse thin-sections, and etched transverse stubs were imaged and used to select characters and character states. Eusmilia, Meandrina, and Dichocoenia form the family Meandrinidae while Cladocora, Oculina, and Solenastrea form Oculinidae. The morphologic analysis supports recent genetic revisions to the suborder Meandriina and also resolves some relationships left unresolved in genetic analyses.