Coral Genetic Diversity Relates to Distinct Lifestyles

 According to microbiologist, Rebecca Vega-Thurber, coral supports more species per square meter than any other habitat. Coral is a complex organism that is able to hide its diversity in plain sight and while scientists always thought there was one distinct species, they have now been able to conclude that there are actually four. The coral's internal structures look almost identical which is what makes it so hard to decipher the difference between the four different kinds, which concludes that millions of years ago, the coral diverged together. Scientists also found that these different species of coral is found at different water depths of the ocean. They also have different amounts of photosynthetic algae and pigments. When this study was conducted, it allowed us to know cryptic reef corals are splitting up their shared ecological space. I think that this is important to know because now we are able to conduct more studies to find out why coral has different properties at different water depths. This also makes you wonder if other marine species have different genetics based on water depth. 


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