List of corals of the Houtman Abrolhos

William Saville-Kent painted these corals while visiting the Houtman Abrolhos in 1894. He referred to them as Madrepora, but that name was then applied to virtually any hard coral, and the genus as now circumscribed does not occur in the Abrolhos.

The marine waters of the Houtman Abrolhos, an island chain off the coast of Western Australia, have been recorded as containing 194 species of coral in 50 genera. This is a surprisingly high coral diversity, considering the high latitude of the reef, and the relatively low diversity of other biota.[1] This is a list of corals of the Houtman Abrolhos:

Hermatypic coral

184 species in 42 genera of hermatypic corals have been recorded from the Houtman Abrolhos:[1]

Ahermatypic coral

In addition to the hermatypic corals, the Houtman Abrolhos contains ten species in eight genera of ahermatypic coral.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Veron, J. E. N. & Marsh, L. M. (1988). "Hermatypic corals of Western Australia: records and annotated species list". Records of the Western Australian Museum. Supplement. 29: 1–136.
  2. ^ "Towards an assessment of the natural and human use impacts on the marine environment of the Abrolhos Islands, Volume 1: Summary of existing information and current levels of human use" (PDF). Fisheries Research Report No 134. Department of Fisheries, Government of Western Australia. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Further reading

  • Wilson, B. R. & Marsh L. M. (1979). "Coral reef communities at the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia in a zone of biogeographic overlap". New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Research Information Series. 137: 259–278.