[Coral-List] Gene Shinn's comments on Threatened Florida Reefs

[Charles Booth]

I found Gene Shinn¹s perspectives on
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdf/080303_Coral_CH_Presentation.pdf quite
interesting.  I am curious about his comment about Acropora prolifera:

Until recent years, there was an unusually lush thicket of
Acropora prolifera (not included in the threatened listing) growing
in a break at the northern end of Southeast Reef not far from the
fort. Today this coral is essentially dead. I have watched and
photographed its demise since 1997. Presumably this species of
Acropora has the same PCE requirements as the listed ones. One can
conclude it is an area of marginal PCE for Acropora.

According to Vollmer and Palumbi (2002 Science Vol. 296. no. 5575, pp. 2023
- 2025),  A. prolifera is a hybrid of A. cervicornis and A. palmata.  Is
this accepted by coral taxonomists/systematists? If so, is this the reason
it is not on the list of threatened species?

Chuck Booth
*   *   *   *   *   *   *
Dr. Charles E. Booth
Dept. of Biology
Eastern Connecticut State University
Willimantic, CT  06226

Ph: 860-465-5260
Email: booth at easternct.edu
FAX:  860-465-5213