The true identity of Siderastrea glynni Budd & Guzmán, 1994, a highly endangered eastern Pacific scleractinian coral.

Siderastrea glynni Budd & Guzmán, 1994 was erroneously erected from live colonies of S. siderea (Ellis & Solander, 1768) unintentionally transferred from the Caribbean to the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panamá. These corals had been used in experiments conducted in the early 1980s by KH Kleemann at Urabá Island, Taboga Islands, Gulf of Panamá, at the same site of the subsequent S. glynni discovery. Here, we offer evidence that live fragments deposited at Urabá Island in 1982 are the same found by Guzmán in 1992, and were inadvertently introduced from colonies of Caribbean S. siderea that were presumed to be dead. This morphological study builds on and supports recent genetic analyses of the S. glynni holobiont. In light of these findings, S. glynni should be regarded as a subjective junior synonym of S. siderea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]