Staghorn Corals of the World

Author(s):  
Carden Wallace

Staghorn corals (genus Acropora) are the most obvious and important corals on coral reefs throughout the world, providing much of the beauty and variety seen on the reefs. This invaluable reference tool is the first major review of Acropora in over 100 years. It assesses all the known species worldwide, describing each in detail and illustrating the range of variability of form with habitat and geographic location. The classification, evolution and worldwide distribution of all species are reviewed and illustrated with colour plates, full page black and white plates and distribution maps. Details of the general biology of staghorn corals are discussed and illustrated.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelina Ivkić ◽  
Andreas Kroh ◽  
Abbas Mansour ◽  
Martin Zuschin

<p>Coral reefs throughout the world are well known for the dominance of scleractinian corals. However, one group of hydrozoan corals can be very common in modern tropical coral reefs as well: <em>Millepora</em>, the fire coral. The modern Red Sea is particularly well known for its high abundances of <em>Millepora</em>, where the fire coral is dominant on current-exposed reefs. Yet, this hydrozoan has been described as rare in the fossil record throughout the world and the documented abundances in fossil reefs do not match the numbers from modern reefs. The main interpretation to explain this phenomenon so far has been a lower preservation potential of milleporids compared to scleractinians due to differences in skeletal structure.</p><p>During an investigation of six Eemian Egyptian reef sites (29 line intercept transects, typically of 20 m length) we found <em>Millepora</em> in 69% of the fossil reef transects. The abundances were comparable to the adjacent modern reefs (65.13% to 0.26%). Preservation of fossil <em>Millepora</em> was good to excellent and in some cases well-preserved pore characters allowed for identification to species level. Our findings seem to be in stark contrast to results and interpretations of earlier studies, which suggest that <em>Millepora</em> is very rare in the fossil record globally. To understand the reason for this mismatch, we compared the associated scleractinian fauna between fossil reefs with and without <em>Millepora</em> presence. Furthermore, as a differentiation between shallower habitats close to the reef edge and deeper habitats along the reef slope was possible, we were able to investigate habitat preferences. <em>Porites</em> abundances were higher in fossil reefs without <em>Millepora</em>. Based on a comparison with modern communities, this suggests that the exposure to water energy might be a decisive factor for <em>Millepora</em> presence in the fossil reef. Therefore, preservation and consecutive investigation of appropriate fire coral-habitats is a pre-requisite for valid comparisons.</p><p>Another factor for the mismatch between our results and earlier studies might be a difference in diagenetic conditions that allow preservation of hydrozoan skeletons in the fossil record. Preservation of the investigated Egyptian sites is favored by their young geological age and their geographic location in a desert climate, reducing dissolution by aggressive meteoric waters. Furthermore, the extremely high abundance of <em>Millepora</em> in modern Red Sea coral reefs may in part mitigate the lower preservation potential of the hydrozoan skeleton in comparison with that of scleractinian corals.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 66-71
Author(s):  
Nikita Gupta

This paper deals with the concept of racism, which is considered as a dark topic in the history of the world .Throughout history, racist ideology widespread throughout the world especially between black people and white people. In addition, many European countries started to expand their empire and to get more territories in other countries. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness which is his experience in the Congo River during the 19th century dealt with the concept of racism, which was clear in this novel because of the conflicts that were between black and white people and it explained the real aims of colonialism in Africa, which were for wealth and power.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-298
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Ruszkiewicz-Michalska ◽  
Ewa Połeć

The paper presents new and historical data on the genus <em>Fusicladium</em> verified on the base of the recently published critical monograph. Fifteen species recorded in Poland under the name <em>Fusicladium</em> and synonymous <em>Pollaccia</em> and <em>Spilocaea</em> are reported; 5 are documented by authors’ materials from Central Poland while the other taxa are supported with literature data only, including three species belonging currently to <em>Fusicladiella</em> and <em>Passalora</em>. Three species, reported here for the first time in Poland: <em>Fusicladium convolvularum</em> Ondřej, <em>F. scribnerianum</em> (Cavara) M. B. Ellis and <em>F. virgaureae</em> Ondřej, are known from a few localities in the world. All the species are provided with the distribution maps and the newly reported ones are illustrated with ink drawings.


Author(s):  
L. Cadoret ◽  
M. Adjeroud ◽  
M. Tsuchiya

The spatial patterns of butterflyfish assemblages (Chaetodontidae) were examined within and between five islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago, southern Japan. Despite being the northernmost reef communities in the world and despite the severe natural and human-induced disturbances that have affected them since the 1970s, the coral reefs of the Ryukyu Islands have one of the most diversified assemblages of chaetodontids in the world. A total of 30 species were identified, and species richness per island ranged from 20 to 25 species. On each of the 45 stations prospected, between four and 17 species were recorded, and between 0.75 and 21.75 ind 250 m−2 were counted. Variation in species composition, species richness and abundance between islands was less pronounced than the variation within islands, where assemblages of the major reef environments (i.e. the reef flat, the reef edge, and the reef slope) were distinguished. The highest species richness and abundance were found on the reef slope and the reef edge. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that depth, substrate complexity, and live coral cover influenced the distribution of chaetodontid fishes. These factors accounted for 20% of the variation in the species data matrix.


2021 ◽  
pp. 91-96
Author(s):  
Shreya Giri

India has one of the largest pilgrim traffic in the world as it has large number of sacred and holy sites of different religions. Besides tourism has been a rising industry in India during last few decades thus providing excellent opportunities for pilgrimage tourism until the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus hit the Pilgrim industry. The Covid-19 global pandemic has led to fatal situation and is inextricably affecting the economy of the nation. One such case is of Haridwar “The Gateway to the abode of Gods” in the Uttarakhand state of India. Every year lakhs of devotees visit Haridwar to take bath in the holy river Ganga in order to attain virtue. Haridwar is a famous religious city for the Hindus and it is also attractive to other domestic and foreign tourists because of its marvellous geographic location and physio-cultural tourist resources. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has raised awareness about the recent outbreak and the Government is taking several measures and formulating various concord at both central and state level to prevent the adversities of COVID-19. In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlight how the pandemic has left the pilgrimage industry gasping. The paper also suggests certain measures to cope up the Covid-19 outbreak thus consequently moving the economy of the region.


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