Morphometric assessment of connectivity of the shallow-water and mesophotic scleractinian coral Montastraea cavernosa

Montastraea cavernosa is a widely distributed scleractinian coral found in temperate and tropical waters globally. Because it occurs in both shallow and mesophotic reefs, it is often referred to as a depth generalist. This study examined the morphometics of shallow-water and mesophotic cohorts in various locations in the Gulf of Mexico and used measurements of skeletal characteristics to assess morphological variation. Results from multivariate analyses showed that these characteristics differed significantly by site, not by depth, though there existed a significant site-depth interaction. Additionally, sites evaluated using a pairwise comparison showed that there were significant morphological variations as well, however among fewer characteristics. Overall resulting showing morphological difference in M. cavernosa suggested that there is morphological acclimation to different depths or separate populations who demonstrate morphological traits may be adaptive for different depths.