Current Affiliation Organization 【 display / non-display 】

Current Affiliation Organization 【 display / non-display 】

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External Career 【 display / non-display 】

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Affiliated academic organizations 【 display / non-display 】

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Research Areas 【 display / non-display 】

Published Papers 【 display / non-display 】

Published Papers 【 display / non-display 】

• Illuminating Deep Reef Refugia: Horizontal and Vertical Genomic Connectivity of <i>Seriatopora hystrix</i> in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

  Kenji Takata, Yuji Narita, Nanami Noguchi, Satoshi Nagai, Taisei Kikuchi, Yoshihisa Suyama, Frederic Sinniger, Saki Harii, Nina Yasuda

  Molecular Ecology ( Wiley )  35 ( 10 )   2026.05 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

  Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

  　View Summary

  ABSTRACT Shallow coral reefs are under threat from anthropogenic stress and climate change. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs), found in deeper, cooler and less impacted waters, are proposed as potential refugia or larval sources for shallow reefs. However, this hypothesis of such deep‐reef refugia is now controversial because their effectiveness is not uniform across regions and depths. Here, we investigated whether MCEs in the Ryukyu Islands act as refugia or support shallow reef recovery. Using genome‐wide SNP data from 389 Seriatopora hystrix individuals collected across depths of 1–51 m, we first identified at least three cryptic lineages ( α , β and γ ) that were not strictly associated with depth or region. Following lineage assignment, results from MLPE and Bayesian clustering indicated that the magnitude of genetic structure differed among lineages but consistently increased with spatial separation, both among sites and across depth gradients. Notably, the genetic structure associated with 30 m depth difference was equivalent to that observed across 16–32 km of horizontal distance. Assignment tests revealed lineage‐specific connectivity, from weak between sites to relatively strong across depths and nearby sites. Demographic analyses further showed a decline in population size in the deep population of the γ lineage, in which no intermediate population was identified. Aside from lineage‐specific differences, connectivity across different depth habitats appears to depend on the continuity of habitats. Therefore, conservation strategies that include mesophotic reef habitats under future climate change should consider both cryptic genetic lineages and topographic continuity of habitats spanning different depths.

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• Spawning times and breeding trials suggest no inbreeding occurs between Porites aff. lutea and P. cf cylindrica

  Tullia I. Terraneo, Alyson Kuba, Michael L. Berumen, Saki Harii, Andrew H. Baird

  CORAL REEFS   44 ( 6 ) 2155 - 2161   2025.10 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

  Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

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• Oxylipin signalling in a coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis

  Andrea G. Gamba, Saki Harii, Frederic Sinniger, Clinton A. Oakley, Arthur R. Grossman, Virginia M. Weis, David J. Suggett, Simon K. Davy

  CORAL REEFS   44 ( 5 ) 1703 - 1718   2025.09 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

  Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

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• The tables have turned: taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of the Acropora hyacinthus (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) complex

  Sage H. Rassmussen, Peter F. Cowman, Andrew H. Baird, Augustine J. Crosbie, Andrea M. Quattrini, Victor Bonito, Frederic Sinniger, Saki Harii, Patrick C. Cabaitan, Nur Fadli, Chun-Hong Tan, Julia Yun-Hsuan Hung, Teina Rongo, Danwei Huang, Tuikolongahau Halafihi, Tom C. L. Bridge

  INVERTEBRATE SYSTEMATICS   39 ( 8 )   2025.08 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

  Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

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• Marine heatwaves select for thermal tolerance in a reef-building coral

  Howells EJ, D Abrego, S Schmidt-Roach, E Puill-Stephan, H Denis, S Harii, LK Bay, JA Bur, K Monro, M Aranda

  Nature Climate Change ( Springer Science and Business Media LLC )  15 ( 8 ) 829 - 832   2025.07 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

  Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

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Books 【 display / non-display 】

Books 【 display / non-display 】

• Ryukyu Islands, Japan. In Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems

  Sinniger F, Harii S, Humblet M, Nakamura S, Ohba H, Prasetia R ( Part: Single Author ,  Ryukyu Islands, Japan )

  Springer  2019

• Coral sclerochronology: similarities and differences in coral isotopic signatures between mesophotic and shallow-water reefs. In Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems.

  Watanabe T, Watanabe TK, Yamazaki A, Yoneta S, Sowa K, Sinniger F, Eyal G, Loya Y, Harii S ( Part: Single Author )

  2019

• Coral Reef Studies of Japan, Coral Reefs of the World vol. 13

  Sinniger F, Harii S ( Part: Single Author ,  Studies on mesophotic coral ecosystems in Japan )

  Springer Nature Singapore  2018

Other Papers 【 display / non-display 】

Other Papers 【 display / non-display 】

• Journal publication of the Japanese Coral Reef Society: Past, present and future

  FUJITA Kazuhiko, HARII Saki, HIDAKA Michio, YAMASHIRO Hideyuki

  Journal of the Japanese Coral Reef Society ( The Japanese Coral Reef Society )  20 ( 1 ) 89 - 97   2018  [Refereed]

   

  DOI

Presentations 【 display / non-display 】

Presentations 【 display / non-display 】

• Exploring the depths: deep sequencing sheds light on Symbiodiniaceae depth distribution

  Meron Ghirmay Tekle, Frederic Sinniger, Yukuto Sato, Saki Harii

  日本サンゴ礁学会第27回大会  (宮崎市)  2024.11  -  2024.12 

• When Leptoseris meets the deep sea: deepest photosymbiotic corals in the world

  Easton E, Sinniger F, Tapia Guerra M, Gonzales Soto M, Harii S, Sellanes Lopez J

  日本サンゴ礁学会第27回大会  2024.11  -  2024.12 

• The trophic ecology of photosymbiotic corals in the lower photic zone

  Samuel E. KAHNG, Stephane MARTINEZ, Frederic SINNIGER, Saki HARII, Yoshito CHIKARAISHI

  European Coral Reef Symposium – ECRS 2024  2024.07  -  2024.07 

• Predicting demography from species traits: larval development time and its sensitivity to warming depend on egg size in corals

  Figueiredo, Joana; Baird, Andrew H.; Harii, Saki; Connolly, Sean R.

  European Coral Reef Symposium – ECRS 2024  2024.07  -  2024.07 

• Hidden lineages and potential deep to shallow connectivity of the brooding coral, Seriatopora hystrix

  Kenji Takata, Yuji Narita, Nanami Noguchi, Satoshi Nagai, Taisei Kikuchi, Frederic Sinniger, Saki Harii, Nina Yasuda

  European Coral Reef Symposium – ECRS 2024  2024.07  -  2024.07 

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Academic Awards 【 display / non-display 】

Academic Awards 【 display / non-display 】

• 日本サンゴ礁学会第21回大会最優秀口頭発表賞

  2018.11     Effect of quantitative changes of Symbiodiniaceae on survival of different coral life stages under heat stress

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 【 display / non-display 】

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 【 display / non-display 】

• Identifying key coral reef conservation areas based on larval dispersal and recruitments from deep bleaching refuges

  Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(A)

  Project Year: 2025.04  -  2029.03 

  Direct: 35,600,000 (YEN)  Overheads: 46,280,000 (YEN)  Total: 10,680,000 (YEN)

• Identifying key coral reef conservation areas based on larval dispersal and recruitments from deep bleaching refuges

  Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(A)

  Project Year: 2025.04  -  2029.03 

  Direct: 35,600,000 (YEN)  Overheads: 46,280,000 (YEN)  Total: 10,680,000 (YEN)

• New coral reef conservation approaches in the Anthropocene across depths

  Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(A)

  Project Year: 2021.04  -  2025.03 

  Direct: 27,000,000 (YEN)  Overheads: 35,100,000 (YEN)  Total: 8,100,000 (YEN)

• Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(B)

  Project Year: 2020.04  -  2023.03 

  Direct: 12,200,000 (YEN)  Overheads: 15,860,000 (YEN)  Total: 3,660,000 (YEN)

• Monitoring of coral reef ecosystem by underwater biological sounds

  Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(A)

  Project Year: 2017.04  -  2020.03 

  Direct: 29,500,000 (YEN)  Overheads: 38,350,000 (YEN)  Total: 8,850,000 (YEN)

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Other External funds 【 display / non-display 】

Other External funds 【 display / non-display 】

• Project Name: Grant level I

  Project Year: 2025.03  -  2027.03 

  Investigator(s): Saki Harii  Offer Organization: National Geographic Society

  Direct: 2,995,520 (YEN)  Total: 2,995,520 (YEN)

• Project Name: CORDAP Coral Accelerator Program

  Project Year: 2024.09  -  2027.08 

  Investigator(s): Dr. Mareike Huhn 

  Direct: 880,000 (YEN) 

SDGs 【 display / non-display 】

SDGs 【 display / non-display 】

Academic Activities 【 display / non-display 】

Academic Activities 【 display / non-display 】

• 一般社団法人　日本サンゴ礁学会 

  2021.10

  -

  2025.11

  種別： Academic society, research group, etc.