The coral assemblages of the north coast of Ishigaki were not overly affected by coral bleaching in 2016 that devastated many reefs in the Yaeyama Islands. The last major disturbance on the north coast of Ishigaki was a crown of thorns outbreak about 12 years ago, according to Dr. Go Suzuki who has been working … Continue reading Coral Bleaching on Ishigaki, Japan, August 2022
Author: Admin
The peculiar case of Porites spumosa Lamarck, 1816
Author: Andrew Baird Species: Porites spumosa Lamarck, 1816 Porites spumosa was described by Lamarck in 1816. In his original description, he refers to a drawing in Knorr (1772; Plate 1A, Fig. 4; reproduced in Fig. 1c in present article). Lamarck (1816) also describes details of the specimen that are not apparent in the drawing, so it is likely … Continue reading The peculiar case of Porites spumosa Lamarck, 1816
Acropora teres
Author: Andrew Baird Species: Acropora teres (Verrill 1866) This species has confounded coral researchers for many years. The holotype (Fig. 1a) was collected from Amami-Ousima Island in the Ryukyus Archipelago in Japan in 1856 on the US Northern Pacific Exploring Expedition and described as Madrepora teres by Verrill in 1866. The distinctive features of the species are … Continue reading Acropora teres
Montipora albanesei
Author: Andrew Baird Species: Montipora sp. "albanesei" Project Phoenix members are in the field chasing topotypes and discovering new species. Yesterday, while in the lagoon of Cocos Keeling Island, we came across fields of Montipora including at least 3 species we have never seen before. If these do turn out to be new, we plan to call … Continue reading Montipora albanesei
Seminar recording “When does taxonomy matter?” now available
Professor Andrew Baird presented a seminar at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies on the Topic “When does coral taxonomy matter?” The full talk is available to watch at the link below. https://youtu.be/J_tWYYP_gH8
2022 Lizard Island Critical Research Grant award to Project Phoenix members
Andrew Baird, Tom Bridge, Pete Cowman and Josh Madin have just been awarded the 2022 Lizard Island Critical Research Grant to re-visit the taxonomy of the reef-building corals of Lizard Island, Australia. For an excellent summary of the project by Dr Anne Hoggett, co-director of the Lizard Island Research Station, see the link below. https://lirrf.org/2022-critical-research-grant-awarded/ The … Continue reading 2022 Lizard Island Critical Research Grant award to Project Phoenix members
FY2022 JSPS Invitational Fellowship for Research in Japan
Professor Andrew Baird from James Cook University has been awarded a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Long-Term Invitation Fellowship. The purpose of the programme is to invite overseas researchers with excellent track records to collaborate with Japanese colleagues. Andrew will spend four months with his host, Dr Saki Harii, at the Tropical … Continue reading FY2022 JSPS Invitational Fellowship for Research in Japan
Coral mass spawning explained
Author: Andrew Baird *This article was originally written for the Norfolk Island's Reef website. As adults, corals are sedentary or sessile animals, meaning that they are attached to the ocean floor. One consequence of being sessile is that they cannot move to find a mate with which to reproduce. When the time comes to breed … Continue reading Coral mass spawning explained
Plesiastraea proximans
Author: Andrew Baird Species: Plesiastraea proximans Dennant, 1904 The use of types in taxonomy does present some problems. For example, in many older works the catalogue number of the specimen on which the species description was based is not listed, and in some situations it is not even clear which museum the specimen was deposited … Continue reading Plesiastraea proximans
New paper: Solving the Coral Species Delimitation Conundrum
Catalina Ramírez-Portilla and colleagues from Project Phoenix have just published a paper in Systematic Biology titled Solving the Coral Species Delimitation Conundrum. In this case study, the authors focused on delineating tabular Acropora species in Okinawa (Japan) using morphology, cross-breeding trials and DNA sequences. Tabular Acropora spp. are notoriously difficult to identify, a phenomenon that … Continue reading New paper: Solving the Coral Species Delimitation Conundrum
Project Phoenix 