11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

26.1178
Reef Corals Of Clipperton Atoll, Eastern Pacific
Pedro MEDINA-ROSAS* 1
1 UNCW, Wilmington, NC
Poster Mini-Symposium 26: Biodiversity and Diversification of Reef Organisms
Clipperton Atoll (10°N and 109°W) is notable for its extreme isolation (1,100 km from
the nearest continental shores of Mexico), small size (about 10 km2), low habitat
diversity, and severely depauperate reef-building coral fauna. It is the eastern-most of all
Pacific atolls. Studies of the corals in this isolated area are scarce, starting 50 years ago.
Some observations and new records of corals are presented as a result of a survey during
April 2007. Fifteen Tropical Eastern Pacific reef-building corals, living from the surface,
close to shore, to deeper than 60 m, were identified. Porites lobata is the most abundant
species, followed by the recently described, Porites arnaudi. Five species of genus
Pocillopora are abundant in inner and mid 20 m terraces (shallow waters), meanwhile
Pavona varians is abundant in the slope and in the deeper areas. New records of
Pocillopora eydouxi and non confirmed Pocillopora sp are additions to the systematic list
for the atoll. This atoll is considered as a critical "stepping stone" in the migration of
coastal marine species across the east Pacific Barrier. Six species are Indo-Pacific
distributed and the rest are present in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Although richness is
lower than the other reefs in the Eastern Pacific, cover is one of the highest of the region.
Cover can be as high as 100% at some depths. Bleaching effects were not observed and
condition of corals is good, except for the fishing lines and nets observed in the colonies,
some of them covered by the corals. With 370 ha of coral cover, qualifies as the largest
coral reef in the eastern Pacific.
26.1179
Biodiversity And Spatial Composition Of Soft-Bottom Macrobenthic Communities
in Coral Reefs Areas And Adjacent Shores From Reunion Island (Southwest Indian
Ocean)
Lionel BIGOT* 1 , Dorothée TADDEI 1 , Patrick FROUIN 1 , Jean-Michel AMOUROUX 2 ,
Antoine GREMARE 3
1 Marine Ecology Laboratory, University of Reunion Island, St Denis, Reunion, 2 LOBB -
UMR 7621, Banyuls/ mer, France, 3 Station Marine d'Arcachon - UMR 5085, Arcachon,
France
This contribution is the first large scale overview of the soft-bottom macrobenthic
communities in four fringing reefs (St Gilles / La Saline; St Leu; Etang Salé and St
Pierre) and an adjacent sandy ecosystems (St Paul) in Reunion Island (South Western
Indian Ocean). Among the 252 species recorded, polychaetes, were the most abundant
with more than 80 species followed by many crustacean, molluscs and cnidarians. On the
coral reef areas, specific communities have been recorded on Etang Salé and St Pierre
reef and related to a swell gradient. At the St Gilles / La Saline reef complex no clear
spatial trend is highlighted between the back reef and the reef flat in abundance.
Moreover, several back reef stations of St Gilles and Etang Salé are characterize by
actinarian communities (Edwardsia spp.) (more than 60 % in abundance) or polychaetes
(Phyllochaetopterus spp.). In the St Paul bay (non coral adjacent area), the analyses
performed on macrofauna highlighted a depth zonation, with three macrobenthic
assemblages along the coastal shelf of Reunion Island (shallow, intermediate, deep
assemblages). The community analysis, confirmed also pointed the role of sediment
composition and strong hydrodynamic environment. Comparison of these environments
showed different community composition between the coral reef complex and the nearest
non coral area. Our results contribute to the knowledge on biodiversity of tropical soft
bottom macrofauna in poorly studied tropical coasts, and illustrate several frameworks of
the macrobenthic community composition in Indian Ocean coastal high-energy
environments.
26.1180
Biodiversity And Ecological Aspects Of Saint Martin’s Coral Island, Bangladesh
Abu Hena Mustafa KAMAL* 1
1 Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, University of Chittagong, Chittagong-4331,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh embarked into the global Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) with the
declaration of her Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) in 2006. Saint Martin’s Island which
referred as only one coral bearing reef of Bangladesh is declared ECA recently with other tow
coastal and one inland wetland areas. This island is enjoying tropical and subtropical climate,
and boarding two countries Bangladesh at the north-east and Myanmar at the south-west. The
major biodiversity of this Island are fishes (234 species), mollusks (187 species), coral (order
Scleractinia; 66 species), coastal aquatic macrophytes (2-seagrasses, 133-seaweeds and 3mangroves),
coastal and land birds (130 species), marine turtles (4 species), sea snakes (5
species), marine mammals (9 species), numerous terrestrial animal and plants. Besides
unregulated extraction and over-exploitation of coral colonies and resources, the anthropogenic
activities especially sedimentation, land erosion and tourism beyond carrying capacity are the
major threats to the island’s ecology. The management and conservation activities are not
followed properly, where users of the island still haphazardly utilize the natural resources of
coral reef. The destruction of habitat and over-exploitation of these resources have resulted in
decaling the biodiversity as well as degradation of coastal and island ecosystems. There is lack
of awareness among the resource users about the interaction of various coastal components and
they do not have enough knowledge about the resource and its importance, utilization and
conservation. Studies revealed that in addition to the declaration of ECA by ministry of
environment, Bangladesh, new scientific studies should be planned for the Saint Martin’s
island, since the unique and dynamic nature of the inter-tidal and sub-tidal rocky habitats offers
excellent research opportunities for the national and international scientists as a global interest
of coral reef biodiversity.
26.1181
Diversity Of Gorgonians And Growth Of menella Sp. And dichotella Sp. in The Gulf Of
Thailand
Thepsuda LOYJIW* 1 , Suchana CHAVANICH 1 , Voranop VIYAKARN 1
1
Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok,
Thailand
Gorgonian is one of the marine invertebrates that plays an important role in the marine
ecosystem. Gorgonian diversity in Gulf of Thailand (GoT) was investigated as basic data for
gorgonian conservation and restoration. The results showed that 18 genera from 6 families of
gorgonians were found. These included Family Subergorgiidae; Subergorgia, Family
Melithaeidae; Melithaea, Mopsella, Acabaria, Family Acanthogorgiidae; Anthogorgia, Family
Plexauridae; Euplexaura, Echinomuricea, Echinogorgia, Menella, Paraplexaura, Astrogorgia,
Family Gorgoniidae; Rumphella, Pseudopterogorgia, Guaiagorgia, Family Ellisellidae;
Ctenocella, Junceella, Dichotella and Verrucella. The highest number of gorgonian, 15 genera,
was found at Sattahip area (inner GoT), followed by 13 genera at Ko Tan (middle GoT) and 9
genera at Ko Chang area (eastern GoT). In this study, 5 genera; Anthogorgia, Paraplexaura,
Pseudopterogorgia, Guaiagorgia, and Verrucella were the first records in Thai water. In
addition, 5 genera, i.e. Euplexaura, Echinomuricea, Menella, Astrogorgia and Dichotella were
also the first records in GoT. From the field surveys in 6 months, the results showed that
specific growth rate of Menella were approximately 3.5 ± 3.9 % per month while Dichotella
was approximately 1.2 ± 1.0 % per month.
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