Table 2.

Biological traits associated with generalist and specifist Symbiodinium–coral associations.

traits	generalist	specifist	references
scleractinian examples	Acropora and Pocillopora	massive Porites	—
symbiotic diversity	flexibility	fidelity	this study, [13,27]
colony-level morphological plasticity	high	low	[45–47]
symbiome biodiversity	high	low	[48–50]
variability in energy acquisition modes	high	low	[51–55]
symbiont transmission	variable	vertical	[56]
growth (linear extension)	high	low	[57–60]
sensitivity to environmental stress	high	low	[61–64]
lifespan	short	long	[65–68]