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

Douglas Fenner douglasfenner at yahoo.com
Mon Apr 25 16:27:09 EDT 2011


Helder,

The reefs of the Bay Islands are biologically connected to the other reefs like the Belize system, to at least some degree, by larval dispersal.  But it is not physically continuous with it, not close.  Bay Island reefs are fringing reefs around the high islands, while the Belize system is a barrier reef, lagoon, patch reefs, etc, on the continental shelf.  The reefs north of Belize are fringing reefs along the continental shoreline.  They are all biologically connected, but geographically separate to various degrees (Belize reefs and Mexican reefs may not have much geographical separation), but they are geologically distinct I bet.  Good point I hadn't thought of.  (I'm reminded of the joke about 2 people who are supposed dive buddies but far apart: "Same ocean, same time.")   Cheers,  Doug

 


________________________________
From: Helder Perez <helder.perez at gmail.com>
To: "Szmant, Alina" <szmanta at uncw.edu>
Cc: Douglas Fenner <douglasfenner at yahoo.com>; "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 1:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System


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
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