Clonality as a taxonomic character of Actinian species

Abstract

Sea anemones of some species have been considered to exist both clonally and as solitary individuals. In two temperate taxa, these alternative forms have been demonstrated through molecular techniques actually to belong to separate species. We have sequenced a variable portion of the cytochrome oxidase I mitochondrial gene from both solitary and clonal individuals of two nominal species of actinians that host anemonefish and that are abundant in Indo-Pacific reefs -- *Entacmaea quadricolor* and *Heteractis magnifica*. Our molecular data support the conclusion based on morphology that *H. magnifica* constitutes a single species from the Red Sea to French Polynesia, and encompasses both solitary and clonal morphs. The sequences from *E. quadricolor* differ from those of *H. magnifica*, but are too preliminary for assessment of whether more than a single species is represented.