What's new

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Introduction

Since the publication of the book Corals of the World in 2000 (COTW 2000), and the subsequent electronic identification guide Coral ID in 2002, there has been a huge focus on marine studies in the central Indo-Pacific centre of diversity from Indonesia to Papua and the Solomons and north to the Philippines. This has led to the discovery of many new species and significantly greater understanding of coral distributions. Elsewhere, studies have continued to expand knowledge of the diversity and ranges of many species.

Details of key taxonomic changes are summarised below but further details are available from the tool Taxon Finder. Coral distributions can be accessed via Coral Geographic.

Along with some changes to existing species, 53 species have been added to the present publication of Corals of the World Beta. Just over half of these (28) have been described in the years since 2000, but the remainder (25) are taxa that have a longer history and are newly recognised as valid based on extensive fieldwork, or for which distinctions have been clarified in molecular studies. There are also a significant number of species under review.

Of the 794 species recognised in Corals of the World 2000, 778 remain accepted (7 of these with new names). Following further assessment of the remaining 16 (none of which are currently accepted in COTW 2016 Beta), 6 have become unnamed new species, 4 have been synonymised with existing species, and 6 are either under review or have had their status changed to unresolved.

In total COTW 2016 Beta recognises 831 accepted species for which there are distribution maps and factsheets.

Below you will find a summary of the new inclusions on the website that were not present in the book. There is also a summary of the changes to species that were included in the book Corals of the World (Veron, 2000a).

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Newly accepted and new species

Newly accepted species

There are 25 newly accepted species whose names were available prior to 2000 but which were not accepted in COTW 2000 (a further 7 species were accepted in COTW 2000 but under a different name. These are detailed below)

  • Acanthophyllia deshayesiana (Michelin, 1850)
  • Acropora eurystoma (Klunzinger, 1879)
  • Acropora halmaherae Wallace and Wolstenholme, 1998
  • Acropora spathulata (Brook, 1891)
  • Acropora squamata Latypov, 1992
  • Blastomussa loyae Head, 1978
  • Craterastrea levis Head, 1983
  • Favia gravida Verrill, 1868
  • Favia wisseli Scheer and Pillai, 1983
  • Fungia gravis Nemenzo, 1955
  • Galaxea lawisiana Nemenzo, 1959
  • Heteropsammia moretonensis Wells, 1964
  • Meandrina danae (Milne Edwards and Haime, 1848)
  • Montipora bilaminata Bernard, 1897
  • Montipora myriophthalma Bernard, 1897
  • Orbicella faveolata (Ellis and Solander, 1786)
  • Orbicella franksi (Gregory, 1895)
  • Pocillopora acuta Lamarck, 1816
  • Pocillopora brevicornis Lamarck, 1816
  • Porites duerdeni Vaughan, 1907
  • Porites hawaiiensis Vaughan, 1907
  • Porites studeri Vaughan, 1907
  • Porites superfusa Gardiner, 1898
  • Porites sverdrupi Durham, 1947
  • Sclerophyllia margariticola Klunzinger, 1879

New species described since 2000

The following 28 accepted species have been newly described since 2000.

  • Acropora rongelapensis Richards and Wallace, 2004
  • Acropora sirikitiae Wallace, Phongsuwan and Muir, 2012
  • Astreopora acroporina Wallace, Turak and DeVantier, 2011
  • Astreopora cenderawasih Wallace, Turak and DeVantier, 2011
  • Astreopora longiseptata Latypov, 2006
  • Astreopora montiporina Wallace, Turak and DeVantier, 2011
  • Blastomussa vivida Benzoni, Arrigoni and Hoeksema, 2013
  • Calathiscus tantillus Claereboudt and Al-Amri, 2004
  • Cycloseris boschmai Hoeksema, 2014
  • Cyphastrea kausti Bouwmeester and Benzoni, 2015
  • Echinophyllia tarae Benzoni, 2013
  • Euphyllia baliensis Turak, DeVantier and Erdmann, 2012
  • Leptoseris kalayaanensis Licuanan and Aliño, 2009
  • Madracis carmabi Vermeij, Diekmann and Bak, 2003
  • Meandrina jacksoni Pinzón and Weil, 2011
  • Pachyseris inattesa Benzoni and Terraneo, 2014
  • Pavona chiriquiensis Glynn, Maté & Stemann, 2001
  • Plerogyra cauliformis Ditlev, 2003
  • Pocillopora aliciae Schmidt-Roach, Miller and Andreakis, 2013
  • Pocillopora bairdi Schmidt-Roach, 2014
  • Podabacia kunzmanni Hoeksema, 2009
  • Polycyathus chaishanensis Lin, Kitahara, Tachikawa, Keshavmurthy and Chen, 2012
  • Porites decasepta Claereboudt, 2006
  • Porites fontanesii Benzoni and Stefani, 2012
  • Porites randalli Forsman and Birkeland, 2009
  • Psammocora albopicta Benzoni, 2006
  • Pseudosiderastrea formosa Pichon, Chuang and Chen, 2012
  • Sandalolitha boucheti Hoeksema, 2012
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Fate of species that were valid in COTW 2000

Changed accepted name

The following 3 species names are no longer valid and have become synonyms of species that were not recognised in COTW 2000. (In general the species existing in COTW 2000 has changed to a more senior name.)

  • Acropora formosa (Dana, 1846) has become a synonym of Acropora muricata (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Montipora hirsuta Nemenzo, 1967 has become a synonym of Montipora carinata Nemenzo, 1967
  • Plesiastrea devantieri Veron, 2000 has become a synonym of Astrea rotulosa (Ellis and Solander, 1786)

Name synonymised

The following 4 species names are no longer valid and have become synonyms of species that were already recognised in 2000. (A species existing in COTW 2000 has been amalgamated with another, more senior species existing in 2000 whose name takes priority.)

  • Acropora gomezi Veron, 2000 has become a synonym of Acropora abrolhosensis Veron, 1985
  • Psammocora decussata Yabe and Sugiyama, 1937 has become a synonym of Psammocora obtusangula (Lamarck, 1816)
  • Psammocora superficialis Gardiner, 1898 has become a synonym of Psammocora profundacella Gardiner, 1898
  • Pocillopora inflata Glynn, 1999 has become a probable synonym of Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus, 1758)

More complex changes

The following 6 species have undergone more complex changes

  • Acropora irregularis (Brook, 1892) is a synonym of Acropora robusta (Dana, 1846) and Acropora irregularis sensu Veron (2000a) is re-identified as Acropora sukarnoi Wallace, 1997
  • Acropora nobilis (Dana, 1846) is a synonym of Acropora robusta (Dana, 1846) and Acropora nobilis sensu Veron (2000a) is re-identified as Acropora intermedia Brook, 1891
  • Acropora rambleri (Bassett-Smith, 1890) has become a probable synonym of Acropora speciosa (Quelch, 1886) and Acropora rambleri sensu Veron (2000a) has been re-identified as Acropora fragilis following re-location of the type specimen and clarification of labelling issues
  • Parasimplastrea sheppardi Veron, 2000 has become a synonym of Blastomussa loyae Head, 1978 and Parasimplastrea omanensis Sheppard and Sheppard, 1991 has become a valid species in its place (for details see Benzoni, Arrigoni, Waheed et al. (2014))
  • Psammocora digitata sensu Veron (2000a) has become a synonym of Psammocora haimiana Milne Edwards and Haime, 1851 and Psammocora digitata Milne Edwards and Haime, 1851 remains a valid species (for details see Benzoni, Stefani, Pichon et al. (2010))
  • Psammocora haimeana sensu Veron (2000a) and others has become a synonym of Psammocora profundacella Gardiner, 1898 and Psammocora haimiana Milne Edwards and Haime, 1851 remains a valid species (for details see Benzoni, Stefani, Pichon et al. (2010))

Sensu Veron (2000a) species

A total of 6 sensu Veron (2000a) species have become unnamed species in preparation and 1 further sensu Veron (2000a) species is under review. Their original names have become synonyms of other species or remain unresolved. The unnamed species will be included in a later version of the website.

  • Acropora exquisita Nemenzo, 1971 is unresolved and Acropora exquisita sensu Veron (2000a) is an unnamed species in preparation
  • Acropora prostrata (Dana, 1846) has become a synonym of Acropora millepora (Ehrenberg, 1834) and Acropora prostrata sensu Veron (2000a) is an unnamed species in preparation
  • Acropora macrostoma (Brook, 1891) has become a synonym of Acropora tenuis (Dana, 1846) and Acropora macrostoma sensu Veron (2000a) is an unnamed species in preparation
  • Hydnophora grandis Gardiner, 1904 has become a synonym of Hydnophora exesa (Pallas, 1766) and Hydnophora grandis sensu Veron (2000a) is an unnamed species in preparation
  • Montipora cocosensis Vaughan, 1918 has become a probable synonym of Montipora angulata (Lamarck, 1816) and Montipora cocosensis sensu Veron (2000a) is an unnamed species in preparation
  • Montipora calcarea Bernard, 1897 is unresolved and Montipora calcarea sensu Veron (2000a) is an unnamed species in preparation
  • Acropora inermis (Brook, 1891) has become a synonym of Acropora horrida (Dana, 1846) and Acropora inermis sensu Veron (2000a) is under review

Unresolved

The following 3 species are no longer accepted and remain unresolved.

  • Acropora scherzeriana (Brüggemann, 1877) is unresolved
  • Psammocora verrilli Vaughan, 1907 is unresolved
  • Psammocora vaughani Yabe and Sugiyama, 1936 is unresolved

Under review

The following 2 species are not currently accepted and remain under review.

  • Siderastrea glynni Budd and Guzmán, 1994 is under review as it may be Siderastrea siderea (Ellis and Solander, 1786) introduced from the Caribbean
  • Goniopora tenella (Quelch, 1886) is under review

All of the remaining species of Corals of the World 2000 remain accepted species. Nevertheless, within this group there have been a number of changes.

Genus changes

The following 23 species have changed genus designation.

  • Acanthastrea maxima has become Sclerophyllia maxima
  • Acropora brueggemanni has become Isopora brueggemanni
  • Acropora crateriformis has become Isopora crateriformis
  • Acropora cuneata has become Isopora cuneata
  • Acropora cylindrica has become Isopora cylindrica
  • Acropora elizabethensis has become Isopora elizabethensis
  • Acropora palifera has become Isopora palifera
  • Acropora togianensis has become Isopora togianensis
  • Barabattoia amicorum has become Favia amicorum
  • Barabattoia laddi has become Favia laddi
  • Echinophyllia taylorae has become Echinopora taylorae
  • Goniopora stutchburyi has become Bernardpora stutchburyi
  • Montastrea annularis has become Orbicella annularis
  • Montastrea annuligera has become Astrea annuligera
  • Montastrea colemani has become Phymastrea colemani
  • Montastrea curta has become Astrea curta
  • Montastrea magnistellata has become Phymastrea magnistellata
  • Montastrea multipunctata has become Phymastrea multipunctata
  • Montastrea salebrosa has become Paramontastraea salebrosa
  • Montastrea serageldini has become Paramontastraea serageldini
  • Montastrea valenciennesi has become Phymastrea valenciennesi
  • Scolymia australis has become Parascolymia australis
  • Scolymia vitiensis has become Parascolymia vitiensis

Spelling changes

The following 8 species have spelling changes.

  • Anacropora matthai has become Anacropora matthaii
  • Favia danae has become Favia danai
  • Meandrina braziliensis has become Meandrina brasiliensis
  • Montastrea cavernosa has become Montastraea cavernosa
  • Porites latistella has become Porites latistellata
  • Pseudosiderastrea tayami has become Pseudosiderastrea tayamai
  • Stephanocoenia michelinii has become Stephanocoenia michelini
  • Symphyllia valenciennesii has become Symphyllia valenciennesi
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