New paper: “The tables have turned: taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of the Acropora hyacinthus (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) complex”

In 2020 when Project Phoenix launched this website, we promised a revolution and thanks to some excellent work led by Dr Sage Rassmussen, we have just delivered with a taxonomic revision of the Acropora hyacinthus species complex (Rassmussen et al. 2025).  To quote the singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman and to paraphrase the title of the paper published in … Continue reading New paper: “The tables have turned: taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of the Acropora hyacinthus (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) complex”

New paper: “Identity of Montipora angulata (Lamarck, 1816) (Scleractinia, Acroporidae)”

In a new open access paper in Galaxea, Journal of Coral Reef Studies, Nomura et al. (2024) redescribe Montipora angulata (Lamarck, 1816) through reference to the type material and field specimens from Japan, and revisit the taxonomic status of morphologically similar species through comparison of the type material. Due to the poor taxonomic resolution of current molecular markers in … Continue reading New paper: “Identity of Montipora angulata (Lamarck, 1816) (Scleractinia, Acroporidae)”

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