[Coral-List] coral identification training availability

[Douglas Fenner]

     NOAA has a program for helping people in the Pacific learn to identify
some of their corals to species.  Species in the Indo-Pacific are generally
tough enough to ID that many papers only ID what they collect data on to
genus.  But the US "Endangered Species Act" is not the "genus act" it is a
"species act."  Species are an especially important level in the taxonomic
hierarchy, and species differ on many things.  More information is needed
at the species level for evaluating species for the level of danger of
extinction, as well as many other things.  We commonly record fish at the
species level in monitoring, we need to be able to do that for corals as
well, but that's not trivially easy, quite the contrary.

      There are now two web pages NOAA has put on their website describing
this little program.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/outreach-and-education/coral-species-identification-training-program

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/training-program-teaches-how-identify-indo-pacific-corals

I have now built coral species guides to several places in the Pacific,
which are listed in those pages and can be downloaded for free from them.
The guides only include species I have been able to photograph during brief
visits to the main island in each archipelago, so they probably include
only 1/3 of the species.  Plus, this is only at the morphological species
level, genetics is likely going to find many more in the coming years and
decades.  Most of the guides have something on the order of maybe 150
species, the most any may have may be nearly 200 species.  So this could be
considered an introduction to coral species ID in the Pacific.  You can see
the list of places that these guides are available for on the web pages.
Note that a far more comprehensive guide which has the species from all
over the world is www.coralsoftheworld.org

      Part of the program is to go around to places in the Pacific to
photograph living corals and build the guides.  Another part is to lead
workshops in all these locations to teach coral ID to species, for these
limited sets of species.  All the photos in a guide were taken in the
location for the guide, so you don't have to look through huge numbers of
species that aren't in that area, plus the photos show what the corals look
like there, not somewhere else, and corals can look different in different
places.  However, many morphospecies of corals have wide ranges and so are
present in many other locations than where one of the guides is built based
on.

      I teach colony shapes first, that is easy and fast, then genera which
takes more work and time, and last species which takes the most work and
time.  Colony shapes take about a half hour, genera a full day, and species
2-3 full days.  I teach using Powerpoint presentations, I first show
several genera or species and describe what they look like and how they
differ from others.  Then I have a powerpoint that works like flash cards.
First slide shows the coral but no name.  I ask the attendees what it is,
and they almost always get it right.  Then I go to the next slide which has
the exact same picture and the name.  I give everyone copies of all the
materials and the powerpoint that works as flash cards which is designed
for individual practice.  No one can remember all the details after 3 days
of presentations, to get good at it you have to practice on your own, but
it is easy and hopefully some fun.  Anyone can do this, if you are
interested and persistent and practice.

        These workshops are all supported by NOAA, there are no costs for
anything.  I plan to return to all these locations this year, but also
sometimes I do a workshop online, and we could probably put workshops I do
in these locations online as well.  Workshops are open to anyone who is
interested, there are no prerequisites or costs.

       I have an online workshop coming up for the Marianas on 6 half-days,
which will be on August 9-11 and 14-16 from 8 am to noon their time.  If
you are interested, note what days that is for you at your location since
east of the dateline it will be a day earlier, and what time of day that
would be where you are.

         If you look at the web pages and are still interested, send me an
email saying you'd like to attend and I will send you information on how to
attend.

    Cheers, Doug
-- 
Douglas Fenner, Ph.D.
Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
NOAA Fisheries Service
Pacific Islands Regional Office
Honolulu
and:
Coral Reef Consulting
PO Box 997390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA

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