Sep 17, 2009 - Claremont, Calif. -

An international team of researchers, including Catherine McFadden, Vivian and D. Kenneth Baker Professor in the Life Sciences at Harvey Mudd College, has received a four-year grant of $160,000 from the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation to study the Xeniidae family of octocorals in the Red Sea. Octocorals, so-called because of the eightfold radial symmetry of their tentacles, are commonly found on reefs throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Yet many questions about their taxonomy, the identification of species and their phylogenetic relationships remain.

Xeniid species are difficult to distinguish by visual observation, but genetic sequencing offers a reliable way to identify species and genera within the family. McFadden will contribute her expertise in octocorals and mitochondrial gene-sequencing with the nuclear gene-sequencing capabilities of Robert Toonen of the University of Hawaii and Tel Aviv University Yehuda Benayahu’s knowledge of octocoral ecology and reproduction. As species are determined on the basis of genetics, the researchers hope to find visual characteristics that will enable scientists and recreational divers to identify octocoral species in the field. The ability to track the spread of xeniid octocorals has taken on a sense of urgency. Coral reefs around the world are under stress from pollution and global warming. The Xeniidae seem to act as weed-like invaders, taking over space on reefs as other coral species succumb to environmental stresses.

The grant will fund research and collaboration among the three institutions, allowing students from each to visit the others and share techniques for genetic sequencing and species identification. This project complements McFadden’s work on another collaborative project, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, “Assembling the Tree of Life,” in which she is part of a team studying genetic relationships among the Cnidarians, the phylum of marine animals that includes corals, anemones and jellyfish.