Genetic variation and gene flow of broadcast spawning and planula brooding coral, Goniastrea aspera (Scleractinia) in the Ryukyu Archipelago, southern Japan

The scleractinian coral Goniastrea aspera (Verrill) undergoes both broadcast spawning and planulae brooding in the Ryukyu Archipelago of southern Japan. Genetic variation and gene flow in G. aspera were studied using allozyme electrophoresis. We tested the hypothesis that gene flow is determined by the competency period of the planulae. We also assessed the relative contributions of sexual and asexual reproduction to recruitment. For the five staining systems surveyed, G. aspera encoded five polymorphic loci and one monomorphic locus. The genotype frequencies in each population significantly differed from the expected Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), indicating that the local populations of G. aspera are not fully panmictic. The high ratio of the observed number of genotypes to the number of individuals (0.90+/-0.07, mean N-G:N+/-SD) and the observed to expected genotypic diversity (0.84+/-0.1 1, mean G(O):G(E)+/-SD) suggested that each population is likely maintained by sexual reproduction. The genetic differentiation (F-ST) and value of average number of migrants per generation (N(e)m) among and within regions ranged from 0.025 to 0.104 and 2.2 to 9.6, respectively. Comparisons with other species demonstrated that larva survival rates also influence gene flow. In addition, gene flow on distant reefs by planulae originating from spawning might prevent divergence by planulae originating from brooding for short-distant dispersal among and within populations of G. aspera in the Ryukyu Archipelago.