About the Authors

Hironobu Fukami

Affiliation Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, Shirahama, Wakayama, Japan

Chaolun Allen Chen

Affiliations Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei, Taiwan, Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Ann F. Budd

Affiliation Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America

Allen Collins

Affiliation National Systematics Laboratory, NOAA Fisheries Service, National Museum of Natural History, MRC 153, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., United States of America

Carden Wallace

Affiliation Museum of Tropical Queensland, Townsville, Australia

Yao-Yang Chuang

Affiliations Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei, Taiwan, Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Chienhsun Chen

Affiliations Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei, Taiwan, Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Chang-Feng Dai

Affiliation Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Kenji Iwao

Affiliation Akajima Marine Science Laboratory, Zamami-son, Okinawa, Japan

Charles Sheppard

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

Nancy Knowlton

knowlton@si.edu

Affiliations Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 163, Washington, D. C., United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: HF CAC. Performed the experiments: HF CAC YYC CC. Analyzed the data: HF CAC AC YYC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: HF CAC AC CFD KI CS. Wrote the paper: HF CAC AC NK. Provided financial support and guided the integration of the various contributions from different team members: NK. Provided information on the traditional systematics of corals that contributed to the interpretation of results and data in table 2 in supplementary information: AFB CW. Commented on manuscript: AFB CW.