[Coral-List] Polycyathus isabela for biogeography and systematics confirmation

[Allen Chen]

Dear All,

I am very glad to read the news in Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg's blog  
about three Galapagos' corals listed as threatened and vulnerable  
species by the IUCN. One of the species, Polycyathus isabela, is very  
interesting to me. My student works on the taxonomy of one  
undescribed Polycyathus in southern Taiwan. There is a population  
occur at shallow water where is an ancient uplifted Pliocene reef,  
but no current reef occurs. From our preliminary identification, we  
thought the closest species is Polycyathus isabela. I am wondering  
whether will any of you provide me the information or, even better,  
coral samples for systematic confirmation. If the species we work on  
turns out to be Polycyathus isabela, that will be really interesting.

thank you in advance!

Cheers, Allen
Allen Chen, PhD
Associate Research Fellow
RCBAS, Taiwan