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Population genetics of Marginopora vertebralis (Foraminifera: Miliolidae) from the Great Barrier Reef and the western Coral Sea

Created 23/06/2025

Updated 23/06/2025

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A study of the population genetics of the foraminiferan, Marginopora vertebralis, from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and the Coral Sea was carried out in 1989. Samples were collected from 2 GBR reefs (Britomart Reef and Davies Reef) and 10 reefs in the western Coral Sea (Coringa Islets, Diamond Islets, Flinders Reef, Holmes Reefs, Lihou Reef (Observatory Cay and SW Cay), Magdelaine Cays, Marion Reef, Osprey Reef and Willis Islets).Two replicate samples of Marginopora vertebralis were collected from each of the reef flat and lagoon habitats at Britomart Reef and Davies Reef. Replicate samples were also collected from the intermediate reef flat/lagoon habitat at Britomart Reef. In each habitat, at depths between 2 and 4 m, replicate 15 x 15 m quadrats, about 200 m apart, were sampled. Ten individuals were collected from each of 10 criss-crossing transects within each quadrat. Coral Sea reefs were sampled at depths between 4 and 20m, either in the lagoon or on the ocean facing slope. At least 30 Individuals were collected within a 10 m x 10 m area at each reef. Samples were collected with forceps and placed in plastic bags of seawater, which were later drained, and the specimens snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and then stored at -80°C. Initially, 24 enzymes were tested for activity using 3 different buffers on a cellulose acetate substrate and 3 different buffers on starch gels. Five of these systems had sufficient activity and resolution for inclusion in further work and 4 enzymes (AAT, GPI, IDH, GPT) had clear genetic interpretation. The fifth enzyme, EST was scored phenetically (the presence or absence of bands was scored, without assigning bands to loci) to compare with data from the genetically defined systems.Calculation of gene frequencies and population genetic statistics were carried out using the BIOSYS-1 package. Phenetic analyses used principal coordinates analyses with programs in the PATN package. Distances between populations were calculated using the Canberra metric and the frequency of occurrence of each band in each population, analogous to the Jaccard matching coefficient for presence/absence data. This research was undertaken to estimate connectivity and dispersal between populations of Marginopora vertebralis in the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea, and to determine discrete species identities.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Population genetics of Marginopora vertebralis (Foraminifera: Miliolidae) from the Great Barrier Reef and the western Coral Sea
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/44e98686-1da7-4a85-9b1b-82b439f9f708
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
reception@aims.gov.au
Reference Period 20/11/2017
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    146.718821,
    -18.225576
  ],
  "type": "Point"
}
Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "Population genetics of Marginopora vertebralis (Foraminifera: Miliolidae) from the Great Barrier Reef and the western Coral Sea". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/population-genetics-of-marginopora-vertebralis-foraminifera-miliolidae-from-the-great-barrier-r1