[Coral-List] Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System

Helder Perez helder.perez at gmail.com
Mon Apr 25 08:00:28 EDT 2011


Hi Doug, Alina,

So what about the Bay Islands reef? I've always been told that it was
connected to the Belizean reef. Is it then not a barrier reef? The reef of
the Swan Islands is a bit far to connect it to the MBRS, but now I just
don't know.

And yes, fringing reefs are spectacular. The reefs of Cayos Cochinos are
nothing less amazing.

Cheers,

Helder I. Pérez

Vice-president
Bay Islands Foundation
Utila, Bay Islands
HONDURAS
www.utila-iguana/fib




On 24 April 2011 21:20, Szmant, Alina <szmanta at uncw.edu> wrote:

> Hi Doug:
>
> I agree with your classification of the MBRS as a MARS and the Belize
> portion as a barrier reef (as well as the point that fringing reefs can be
> amazing, such as in Bonaire and Curacao).
>
> With regard to Millepora squarosa, I have collected it from La Parguera PR
> and also seen it in Florida Keys and Bahamas, so it is definitely not
> limited to just southern Caribbean (and I know how to tell it apart from M.
> companata and M. alcicornis which are totally different).
>
> Best,
>
> Alina
>
> *************************************************************************
> Dr. Alina M. Szmant
> Professor of Marine Biology
> Center for Marine Science and Dept of Biology and Marine Biology
> University of North Carolina Wilmington
> 5600 Marvin Moss Ln
> Wilmington NC 28409 USA
> tel:  910-962-2362  fax: 910-962-2410  cell: 910-200-3913
> http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
> *******************************************************
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:
> coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Douglas Fenner
> Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:41 PM
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
> System
>
>      Almost all reef-building coral species in the Caribbean have ranges
> throughout the Caribbean, since the Caribbean is a relatively small  body
> of
> water (compared to the Indo-Pacific, for instance).  Most all of  the
> species
> have already been found in places like Belize, Cozumel,  Akumal, Cancun
> area,
> and so on, and some of the others may be there but  just haven't been found
> there yet.  There are a very few which have not  been found in the NW or W
> Caribbean at all, and might (might) not be  there (to prove they are not
> there
> is like trying to prove the null  hypothesis).  One that is pretty sure not
> to
> be there is Millepora  squarrosa.  It is only known from the southeast
> Caribbean, and reports  elsewhere are likely all errors.  Millepora
>  complanata
> can look a bit like it, but if you look in the Humann book  you'll see M.
> squarrosa is actually quite distinctive and easy to  recognize.  A second
> species is Leptoseris cailleti, a small deep-water  species that is rarely
> reported anywhere.  Millepora striata is rarely  reported, but I reported
> it
> from Belize, so it is in the MesoAmerican  reef system.  There are a few
> other
> rarely reported or less well known  species that may or may not be there,
> such
> as Madracis senaria, Madracis  asperula, Madracis carambi and Porites
> branneri.
> The situation is  quite different with the azooxanthellate corals.  How
> many are
> present  in an area is poorly known, probably because they are small and
> cryptic,  but they may be patchy as well, since they typically live in very
> specific habitats like cavern roofs that are searched less often and  less
> completely than open habitats.  Also, their identification is not a
>  trivial
> matter for most  of us reef biologists, most require sending a sample to
> the one
> or two  people in the whole world who are experts on their taxonomy (I'm
> not one
> of them, Dr. Stephen Cairns at the Smithsonian is one, and can put you in
> touch
> with the others).
>       For the zooxanthellate species, you can find range maps in Veron
> (2000),
> but it appears he fills in all the Caribbean for any species found
>  somewhere in
> the Caribbean.  He's working on a much more detailed  database called
> "Coral
> Geographic."
>
>      To my way of thinking Belize has a true barrier reef, but the rest of
> the
> MesoAmerican reef system is not a barrier reef as far as I know, but I'm no
> expert on it.  A barrier reef has to have a significant lagoon between it
> and
> land, and my impression is outside Belize, reefs are pretty much fringing..
>  I've
> also heard of the Florida Keys reefs referred to as a barrier reef.  I
> prefer
> the older name, "Florida Reef Tract" since as far as I know it consists of
> a
> series of relatively small reefs with wide gaps between them, and more
> continuous ridges of hard grounds that are not currently living coral reefs
> and
> don't get close to the surface.  Gene Shinn also tells me that the Florida
> Keys
> reefs have been called bank reefs.  That said, most reefs are not just
> coral
> reefs, they are coralgal reefs or even algal coral reefs, with coralline
> algae
> and other calcareous algae contributing as much or more calcium buildup
> than the
> corals.  Also, the Great Barrier Reef is not a single reef but a whole
> series of
> about two  thousand reefs, with gaps of various sizes (a maze that in
> effect is
> a barrier to  navigation unless you have GPS and a very good map system and
> are
> a good  navigator).  There is one section that is a nearly continuous
> barrier,
> the section called the "Ribbon Reefs."  I'd also remind people of the
> barrier
> reef in New Caledonia, which is like Belize and the Ribbon Reefs in the
> GBR, a
> nearly continuous barrier with some small gaps.  New Caledonia is said to
> have
> the longest continuous barrier reef in the world, and likely that is not
> widely
> known.  Anyhow, "MesoAmerican reef system"  sounds fine with me, as does
> Belize
> Barrier Reef, but adding barrier to  MesoAmerican does not, nor does it for
> Florida.  It seems like today  people think the word "barrier" adds
> charisma, so
> they want to call  their reef a barrier reef.  Fringing reef ought to also
> have
> some  charisma, think of the Ningaloo fringing reef in western Australia,
> longest fringing reef in the world.  Not nearly as well known as the  GBR,
> but a
> huge and amazing reef.  Think of Indonesia, which has more  coral reefs
> than any
> other country in the world (slightly more than  Australia), I bet most of
> their
> reefs are fringing.  Also among the most  diverse in the world, a true
> world
> treasure.  Fringing is good.        Doug
>
> Cheers,  Doug
>
> Fenner, D. 2001.  Biogeography of three Caribbeancorals (Scleractinia);
> Tubastraea
>
>    coccineainvades the Gulf of Mexico.  Bulletin of Marine Science 69:
> 1175-1189.
>
> Fenner, D.  1999.  New Observations on the Stony Coral Species
> (Scleractinia,
>    Milliporidae, Stylaseridae) of Belize(Central America) and
> Cozumel(Mexico).
>    Bulletin of Marine Science 64: 143-154.
>
> Fenner, D. P. 1993. Some reefs and corals of Roatan (Honduras), Cayman
> Brac, and
>    Little Cayman.  Atoll Research Bulletin 388: 1-30.
> Weerdt, W. H.  de.  1990.  Discontinuous distribution of the tropical west
> Atlantic  hydrocoral Millepora squarrosa.  Beaufort. 41: 195-203.
>
> Douglas Fenner
> Coral Reef Monitoring Ecologist
> Dept Marine & Wildlife Resources
> American Samoa
>
>
> Mailing address:
> PO Box 3730
> Pago Pago, AS 96799
> USA
>
>
> work phone 684  633 4456
>
>
> Sharply increased mass loss from glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian
> Arctic
> Archipelago
>
>
> Between  the periods 2004–2006 and 2007–2009, the rate of mass loss sharply
> increased from 31 ± 8 Gt yr 1 to 92 ± 12 Gt yr 1 in direct response to
>  warmer
> summer temperatures, to which rates of ice loss are highly  sensitive (64 ±
> 14
> Gt yr 1 per 1 K increase).
>
> Gardner et al Nature
>
> http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10089.html?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20110421
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Brittany Huntington <brittanyhuntington at gmail.com>
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml..noaa.gov
> Sent: Thu, April 21, 2011 4:13:17 AM
> Subject: [Coral-List] Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
> System
>
> I am interested in determining the regional species pool for scleractinian
> corals within the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System.  Published reports
> weigh
> in around 60 species from what I have found but would appreciate any leads
> to a taxonomic list of coral species observed in the region.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Brittany Huntington
>
> Brittany Huntington
> Doctoral Candidate
> Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries
> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
> University of Miami
> 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
> Miami, FL 33149
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>



More information about the Coral-List mailing list