Abstract
ABSTRACT
Pocillopora
is a widespread, dominant reef‐building coral genus in the Indo‐Pacific; many species within this group exhibit high morphological similarity and plasticity. Given this, genetic tools are needed to robustly identify
Pocillopora
individuals to the species level. Quick and accurate identification approaches for
Pocillopora
species are critical to estimating biodiversity patterns under current and future environmental challenges. In recent years, the mitochondrial open reading frame (mtORF) and a histone region (PocHistone) have been validated using genome‐wide data to become the most widely used species‐level markers for
Pocillopora
. However, Sanger sequencing of a large number of samples can be prohibitively expensive and sequencing facilities are not always readily available. Therefore, we present restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) digests here that identify the six species of
Pocillopora
(
P. acuta
,
P.
cf.
effusa
,
P. grandis
,
P. meandrina
,
P. tuahiniensis
, and
P. verrucosa
) found in French Polynesia, without sequencing. In uninformed validation tests (in silico and in vitro), our protocol identified each
Pocillopora
species with 100% accuracy. Given their cost‐effective, rapid nature, the tailoring of additional RFLP digest protocols to identify cryptic coral species in reef regions around the world will support foundational reef science, conservation and restoration initiatives.