Author: Andrew Baird I have just returned from Ishigaki where I dived in the fabled Sekisei lagoon and close to Kabira Bay (Fig. 1) to track down 10 or so topotypes from the Yaeyama Islands, Japan. My host for this trip was Dr. Go Suzuki who has done great work on the population ecology of … Continue reading Ishigaki and the fabled Sekisei lagoon and Kabira Bay

Author: Andrew Baird In August I had the pleasure and privilege of diving with Dr. Takuma Mezaki of the Kuroshio Biological Research Institute on the rocky reefs of Misaki, Japan. The area is the type location for a number of nominal coral species, including Lobophyllia robusta Veron 1990 and Cyphastrea japonica Yabe & Sugiyama, 1932 but the area is … Continue reading August 2022 Shikoku and Kyushu

Author: Andrew Baird Project Phoenix’s hunt for topotypes continued in the magical Amami-Oshima Island in the Ryukyu Archipelago in Japan.  In 1856, the ships of the Northern Pacific US exploring expedition anchored in the south of 'Amami-Ousima' (as written in ships log and associated expedition texts) and collected a number of coral specimens that served … Continue reading July 2022 Amami Islands

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

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

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

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

Andrew Baird has just returned from a field trip to the Solitary Islands Marine Park (SIMP). The weather and sea conditions were brilliant, with light winds and the deep warm blue of the East Australia Current bathing the outer islands of the group. Project Phoenix have been working in the SIMP since 2010 to document … Continue reading March 2021 Solitary Islands