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
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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
November 2021 Norfolk Island
Project Phoenix has just returned from a collecting trip to Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island (29.03° S; 167.95° E) is one of the most isolated reefs in the Pacific Ocean according to an index developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The size of the reef surrounding the island is likely to have fluctuated widely … Continue reading November 2021 Norfolk Island
October 2021 Port Noarlunga Jetty, South Australia
South Australia might not seem like an obvious destination to collect reef-building corals, but it is, in fact, the type location for four nominal species: Caryophyllia australis Milne-Edwards & Haime 1849; Cylicia magna Tenison-Woods, 1878; Homophyllia incrustans Dennant 1906 and Plesiastrea proximalis Dennant 1904. Caryophyllia australis is currently accepted as Homophyllia australis; Cylicia magna is … Continue reading October 2021 Port Noarlunga Jetty, South Australia
October 2021 Vernon Islands
Project Phoenix has just returned from a field trip to the Vernon Islands north of Darwin, Australia. The Top End is a vastly under-explored area for coral reef research. Indeed, there have been only two papers on the coral fauna published to date despite extensive and flourishing reefs: a checklist of the corals in Darwin … Continue reading October 2021 Vernon Islands
Review for Coral Finder 2021
Coral Finder 2021 (CF2021) is a significant milestone for all those interested in coral identification. For the first time since the molecular revolution threw coral taxonomy into a state of chaos, there is now a guide that summarises all the changes at the family and genus level in a single publication. Russell Kelley, author of … Continue reading Review for Coral Finder 2021
May 2021 Palms Islands Group Field Trip
Andrew Baird, Tom Bridge, Pete Cowman, Augustine Crosbie, Jeremy Horowitz and Julia Hung have just returned from two weeks on James Cook University’s Orpheus Island Research Station. The aims of the trip were two-fold. Firstly, the hunt for topotypes continues. The Palm Islands group is an important location in the history of coral taxonomy being … Continue reading May 2021 Palms Islands Group Field Trip
May 2021 Low Isles Field Trip
The hunt for topotypes at Project Phoenix continues with Andrew Baird, Gus Crosbie and Hanaka Mera spending four days at the research station on Low Isles off Port Douglas on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Low Isles is an important site in the history of coral reef ecology, being the site of the GBR Expedition … Continue reading May 2021 Low Isles Field Trip
March 2021 Lord Howe Island
Andrew Baird and Tom Bridge have just returned from a week sampling the corals of the Lord Howe Island Marine Park (LHIMP), the world’s southernmost coral reef. Andrew, along with many colleagues from Project Phoenix, has been working to quantify the biodiversity of the corals of the island for over 10 years. On his first … Continue reading March 2021 Lord Howe Island
Pavona duerdeni
Author: Tom Bridge Species: Pavona duerdeni Vaughan 1907 Pavona duerdeni is regarded as a distinctive species. The intricate thamnasteroid (or ‘star-shaped) corallites (see Rosen 1986) of this species clearly identify it as a member of the family Agariciidae, but the most distinctive feature of the species, at least as interpreted in recent decades (e.g. Veron … Continue reading Pavona duerdeni
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