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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 248 / Thursday, December 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations sp. were found, one of which was collected and designated as the holotype for the new species Budd and Guzman 1994. The remaining four colonies of S.
glynni were subsequently transplanted to aquaria at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Naos Island, Panama, and despite extensive search efforts, no other colonies have been found in the area Glynn et al. 2016.
The presence of the species in the eastern Pacific was noteworthy because the other extant Siderastrea species were only known to occur in the western Pacific and the tropical Atlantic Glynn et al. 2016. Additionally, no fossil evidence exists for Siderastrea occurring in the eastern Pacific over the last 5 million years LaJeunesse et al.
2016.
As reported in the Status Review, a study by Forsman et al. 2005 found Siderastrea glynni to be genetically very similar to the Caribbean coral species Siderastrea siderea. The study provided two possible explanations for these results: 1 That S. siderea and S. glynni are the same species and that S. glynni may have recently passed through or been carried across the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean side, or 2 that S.
glynni evolved from S. siderea, likely about 2 to 2.3 million years ago during a period of high sea level when the Isthmus of Panama may have been breached, allowing inter-basin transfer of species ancestors. The Status Review concluded that S. glynni was a valid and unique species.
The 5-year review NMFS 2020
synthesizes significant new information regarding the taxonomic classification of S. glynni that has become available since the species was listed as endangered. LaJeunesse et al. 2016
found S. glynni to host endosymbionts Symbiodinium trenchii and Symbiodinium goreaui, both of which occur in S. siderea in the Atlantic.
Based on recent taxonomic revisions to the family Symbiodiniaceae, these two endosymbionts are now identified as Durusdinium trenchii and Cladocopium goreaui, respectively LaJeunesse et al.
2017. In fact, the study by LaJeunesse et al. 2016 provided the first record of both of these endosymbionts in the eastern Pacific. A comparison of the single multilocus genotype of D. trenchii found in all five S. glynni colonies to other D. trenchii genotypes from several regions around the world provide evidence that the D. trenchii genotype from the eastern Pacific originated from the Greater Caribbean. The D. trenchii genotype found in the S. glynni colonies was an exact match to the D. trenchii genotype of a S. siderea colony in Curacao, indicating that the presence of
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D. trenchii in the eastern Pacific is almost certainly a result of an introduction from the Atlantic LaJeunesse et al. 2016. Furthermore, the genotype of D. trenchii recovered from S. glynni was found to be genetically distinct from other genotypes of closely related endosymbionts of family Symbiodiniaceae living in co-occurring eastern Pacific corals of the genus Pocillopora and is therefore atypical of the region LaJeunesse et al. 2016. More recently, the closely related endosymbiont in the eastern Pacific was identified as a new species Durusdinium glynni distinct from D.
trenchii, further supporting their differentiation Wham et al. 2017.
LaJeunesse et al. 2016 conclude that S.
glynni is likely to be S. siderea introduced from the Atlantic.
Glynn et al. 2016 discuss several lines of evidence further supporting the synonymy of S. glynni and S. siderea.
First, the authors discuss the location and timing of the introduction of S.
siderea to the site where S. glynni was discovered. In the early 1980s, blocks of S. siderea skeletons were transplanted from the Caribbean side of Panama to a reef at Uraba Island in the eastern Pacific as part of a comparative study of bioerosion Kleemann 1990. After a period of several months, regenerating patches of S. siderea on the blocks were apparent; several fragments from these blocks were redeposited on the Uraba patch reef the same site where S. glynni was discovered in 1982 and were not retrieved Glynn et al. 2016. Using the initial size approximately 1 cm diameter and expected growth rate 5.2
mm per year over a 10-year period of the introduced S. siderea fragments, a 10 cm spherical colony would be expected after 10 years Glynn et al.
2016. The five colonies found in 1992
measured between 7 and 10 cm in diameter, supporting the timeline of introduction Budd and Guzman 1994.
Glynn et al. 2016 also provide morphological evidence for the proposed synonymy. Despite observed variability in micro-skeletal traits among S. siderea, S. radians, and the type specimen of S. glynni, a single-factor multivariate analysis of variance MANOVA showed no significant differences with respect to all of the examined traits across the three species F3,17 = 2.2937, p = 0.1146 Glynn et al. 2016. There are, however, morphological differences between the S. glynni specimens and S. siderea as initially described by Budd and Guzman 1994, including growth form S. glynni was found unattached while S. siderea is typically attached as well as corallite
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wall structure, which was not quantified in the analysis by Glynn et al. 2016.
The authors suggest that as the oceanic conditions in the Gulf of Panama are quite different from those in the Caribbean, certain skeletal features of the Pacific colonies could have been environmentally influenced, leading Budd and Guzman to declare the discovered colonies a new species of Siderastrea Glynn et al. 2016.
Based on this substantial evidence, Glynn et al. 2016 conclude that the live fragments of S. siderea deposited by Kleeman in 1982 are the same that were found by Guzman in 1992, and therefore, that S. glynni should be considered a junior synonym of S.
siderea. After reviewing the best available information, we agree that S.
glynni is a synonym of S. siderea and not a separate taxonomic species or subspecies. It cannot qualify as a distinct population segment DPS
under the statutory definition of a species because DPSs can be identified only for vertebrate fish or wildlife.
Therefore, S. glynni does not meet the statutory definition of a species under the ESA.
Public Comment Beginning on May 4, 2021, we solicited comments during a 60-day public comment period from all interested parties 86 FR 23657. We received one comment requesting that, given the observed variability in morphology including growth form and corallite wall structure and microskeletal traits, we provide a more thorough rationale for our conclusion that the eastern Pacific population does not constitute a subspecies of S. siderea.
Response: Based on our review of the best available information, we conclude that S. glynni is a junior synonym of S.
siderea, and we found no indication in the available literature that the eastern Pacific population is a subspecies of S.
siderea. Glynn et al. 2016 explain that the morphological differences between the colonies of S. glynni and S. siderea, including the eastern Pacific populations thin septa, porous or absent columella, and other weakly formed skeletal features, may be the result of differing environmental conditions between the eastern Pacific and tropical Atlantic, including the following: Carbon dioxide concentrations, aragonite saturation state, nutrient levels, water depth, shading, and upwelling cycles Glynn et al. 2016. Scleractinian corals are known to exhibit phenotypic plasticity i.e., environment-induced changes in morphology, and therefore phylogenetic relationships are often
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