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Coral Reef Ecology - Science topic

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How can instruments and systems for the conservation of nature, the biosphere, the highly biodiverse coral reef ecosystems of the seas and oceans be improved?
The ongoing process of global warming is also causing, among other things, an increase in the temperature of the seas and oceans. This increase in temperature and the increase in the scale of water pollution in the seas and oceans is causing the death of coral reefs, which have formed over millions of years and have developed the most biodiverse ecosystems of the seas and oceans.
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of researchers and scientists:
How can instruments and systems for the conservation of nature, of the biosphere, of the highly biodiverse coral reef ecosystems of the seas and oceans be improved?
What is your opinion on this?
What do you think about this topic?
Please reply,
I invite you all to discuss,
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
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Polluting shipwrecks are the ticking time-bomb at the bottom of our oceans
"At the bottom of the oceans and seas lie more than 8,500 shipwrecks from two world wars. These wrecks have been estimated to contain as much as 6 billion gallons of oil, as well as munitions, toxic heavy metals and even chemical weapons.
For decades, these wrecks have largely lain out of sight and out of mind. But all this time, their structures have been degrading, inexorably increasing the chances of sudden releases of toxic substances into the marine environment.
In parts of the globe, climate change is exacerbating this risk. Rising ocean temperatures, acidification and increasing storminess accelerate the breakdown of these wrecks...
How many of these wrecks pose a threat to people’s safety, to coastal communities and to the environment? What can be done – and why haven’t we done it sooner?...
Mapping the problem is the key.
Work by researchers such as Paul Heersink have drawn together different datasets to help visualise the scale of the challenge. Yet these figures, and the position of dots on maps, may also give a false sense of certainty...
There is an ongoing global push to improve our mapping of ocean space under the auspices of the Seabed 2030 project, which is looking to reach a universal resolution of 100x100m. That means one “pixel” of information would be equivalent to about two football pitches. This will be transformative for our understanding of the ocean floor, but will not reveal the detail of all those things that you could hide within those two football pitches (which includes quite a few wrecks)...
Advances in subsea drones known as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), which are fitted with an array of sensors to measure the seabed and detect pollutants, could help enhance our knowledge about the locations of wrecks, what they’re carrying and their state of deterioration. AUVs can provide relatively cheap, high resolution data that produces fewer emissions than a comparable survey campaign conducted from a large research vessel...
Action is needed now, driven by a robust regulatory and funding framework, and technical standards for remediation. A global partnership – codenamed Project Tangaroa – has been convened to stimulate that framework – but political will and financing is required to make it a reality.
Through targeted archival and survey work, and by sharing data and ideas, we can chart a course to a future where the sea is not a place where we ignore things today that will threaten us tomorrow..."
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This corals are Caryophyllia sp. the first was trawled near an outside seamount of central Tirrenian sea in deep water. it is rare. The second species was taken on Murella coralligenous bank in 45 m.
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The 3 coral photos (Roberto Ardovini: Tiberio Seamount, Murelle Bank) show Caryophyllia smithii, the form typical of soft bottoms, corals originally attached to small substrates such as shells.
Helmut Zibrowius (Marseille)
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Dear researchers,
I need certain full name definition of my acropora coral. Can anyone help me?
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Dear Gokhan.
Taxonomy position of Acropora is the following:
Phylum Cnidaria
Subphylum Anthozoaria
Class Anthozoa
Sub Class Hexacoralla(= Zoantharia)
Order Scleractinia (=Madreporaria)
Genus Acropora
May be the species Acropora robusta
Good lucky
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Given that the DNA barcoding is not an effective tool to delineate interspecific divergence but intraspecific divergence between coral species (Shearer and Koffroth,2008), how accurate is the species level identification of corals based on DNA barcoding along with morphological identifications.
I know that the 'Target capture bait set' approach is highly efficient in delineating corals with very close relatedness, specially the Family Acroporidae (Cowman et al,. 2020)
That being said, can you state new records of coral species were identified (let's assume 5new records of Acropora corals in the vicinity of local waters) based on the DNA barcoding results?
Kindly requesting some expert knowledge on this topic.
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Yes DNA barcoding is a roadmap
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I would be grateful if you could help me find out one or few case studies in the Pacific region where soil erosion in pineapple fields is efficiently managed.  As part of a regional project (www.spc.int/resccue) dedicated to integrated coastal zone management  in the Pacific region, I would like to identify few case studies where soil erosion in pineapple fields is correctly managed in order to organize a technical exchange between pineapple producers in French Polynesia and producers in other places of the Pacific region.
Many thanks for your answer.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you need further information.
Best,
Mr CHARLES mahe / RESCCUE project coordinator in French Polynesia
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This is a good question.
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Ha logrado alguno críopreservar exitosamente los ovocitos de alguna especie de coral? Solamente he encontrado un caso para una gorgónea (Junceella juncea) por medio de vitrificación (Tsai et al. 2015, adjunto abajo). Se que algunos investigadores (comunicaciones personales) han logrado en algunos casos descongelarlas y reactivarlas después de realizar las inmersiones o el almacenamiento en nitrógeno líquido, sin embargo, pese a que los ovocitos salen 'vivos', estos pierden su capacidad de ser fertilizados (quedan infértiles).
Agradezco de antemano su apoyo y colaboración compartiendo sus respuestas y experiencia en este asunto.
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They may have been frozen too quick? Slow freeze and fast thaw is best, I think :)
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Do you think ten years is enough to make any changes to coral erosion?
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Are you asking if bioeroders can erode an otherwise healthy reef in 10 years, or if coral reef erosion can occur over 10 years? There are lots of examples of reefs that have experienced disturbance that subsequently experience rapid both physical and biological erosion. The Galapagos post-ENSO disturbance and Mo’orea post COTS and typhoon are two examples that come to mind.
Whether bioeroders can directly affect the health of otherwise healthy corals I’m less clear on. There may be some other examples from the Galapagos and elsewhere of overfishing echinoid predators that are pertinent?
Dan
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I am currently conducting a coral conservation project where we 1) rescue corals (loose and broken fragments/branches) 2) transplant on cement+glass plates in nursery site 3) send them back to natural site to recover damaged/patchy reefs.
My question is, are there any specific distances when placing corals from each other?
The 2 pictures below are some of the corals that we placed at the damaged and patchy reef site.
I would normally refer to reference sites to estimate suitable density of transplant and the distance from each other. But i'm not sure if it can be applicable at restoration sites to reduce competition/stresses among growing corals.
Appreciate the recommendations and comments
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Hi, To a large degree the distance between the coral transplants will depend on the life history strategies of the species you select for your conservation project. The following paper should give you some ideas how to proceed:
Here is another paper that recommends that distance between coral transplants of branching species should be greater than 0.5 m, and greater than 0.2 m for massive species.
There are many manuals out there on coral transplant techniques, but the following one from Seychelles is one of the best. See page 44 for recommended densities of coral transplants.
file:///C:/Literature/Coral%20Reefs/Recovery/2018-Toolkit-CoralReefRestoration.pdf
I hope this helps a bit.
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We are planning to inventory the black and red corals growing on the Mediterranean sea bottom. I read about various methods amongst them the use of ROV with Sea bottom imaging sensors and cameras.
How to efficiently inventory Precious corals (Black, Gold & red)?
What are the most efficient gears to use for sea bottom surveying such species?
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It's an old topic, but, Are you sure to give available data (Geographic coordinates) for this undangered species?
Regards
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An increase in the live coral cover is generally seen as a positive sign of resilience of a reef. However I feel that there is something beyond live coral cover. Please put in your comments/suggestions and any related articles.
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B Manikandan, you are absolutely correct. One of the biggest flaws with Perry's work is what you just explained (I am not judging though, they did a great job tackling this topic where there is no full solution). Another issue with the bioerosion part of their work is that the method assumes somewhat controversial rates for sponge bioerosion from other studies can be applied to percent benthic cover of sponges (hard when considering most of these sponges are cryptic organisms that hide within the substrate). They also do not account of other macroborers such as mollusks and worms (which usually are not huge contributors but it varies by orders of magnitude depending on the location). The way they handle microboring is also difficult at best. To deal with these issues, I and others used experimental substrate blocks of known weight. However, this method also has inherent flaws (see attached paper that discusses some of these issues).
Very few people have been able to directly consider physical erosion and it is usually assumed to be minimal. I work in deeper water so this usually is not a problem for me. Researchers often assume most physical erosion is facilitated by bioerosion (organisms loosing up material) but its hard to account for how sediment abrasion may remove carbonate or other physical processes.
Chemical processes are also assumed to be relatively negligible (but this is hard to test). It is unknown how much carbonate cementation processes actually add per weight and volume to the framework. Dissolution in most areas of standard pH can be assumed to be minimal though.
Ultimately, we are trying to quantify a "simple" mass-balance equation with almost an infinite amount of variables. We do the best we can to account for major factors modifying carbonate structure but it is impossible to account for everything unfortunately. Still, I hope I have provided some help to you. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
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So many literatures available as mentioned by some answers.
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It is experimentally proved that turf algae in combination with sediment prevents the settlement of coral larvae. My field observations are contradictory to it. I observed lot of new recruits on hard substrate which has been covered with turf algae and sediment. Is there any other factor which could aid the settlement of coral larvae on a turf algal substrate?
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Hi, I am a starting my BS' senior year in a few months. The major of my study is molecular and cell biology, I also have a decent background of computational biology tools used for analyzing high throughput sequencing data.
I am interested in perusing my graduate studies at coral reef genomics, biotechnology of coral reef restoration, etc. The problem is I am confused somehow and do not know where to start from. Can anyone give me any advice that can help (Recommending a quality lab that works in the field, having the contacts of a professor that works on the field and maybe needs to recruit a masters or Ph.D. student, or recommending an online course or a textbook that would help me get the required knowledge)? Please, provide me with anything that you think may help. Thanks in advance.
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Check out some of the marine science programs such as the ones at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. there are all sorts of programs along the coast. Find a university that has marine field stations such as UNC, U, and College of Charleston just to name a few. I am sure there are many more along the East coast, Gulf of Mexico, and the west coast.
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Hi,
I had originally thought that distinguishing between fixed and random factors was relatively self explanatory, however, having read an article on this very subject, I am now not so certain.
The author's decision tree (see below), particularly the part stating that any factor with 2-4 levels 'must' be fixed left me especially confused.
"A) Can I talk you out of including it? (solved – drop it from the model)
A) No I can’t talk you out of it? too bad. Go to B
B) Is it a continuous variable or has only a few levels (e.g. 2-4) → has to be fixed
B) OK, a choice is possible – go to C.
C) Do you want estimates of s1, s2,…,sn (perhaps because you have lots of data and so lots degrees of freedom to burn and are curious how sites differ)? →Fixed
C) Do you want estimates of σ2, perhaps because it saves you degrees of freedom you really need or perhaps because the variance is more interesting (or useful for variance partitioning) than a bunch of estimates of site effects nobody will ever look at? go to D
D) can you either keep the design really simple or are willing to give up p-values→Random
D) You’re kind of out of luck. Change one of your answers and try again"
The article also links to a discussion regarding the recommended number of groups for a factor to be random, which conforms with much of what he has said in his article.
I'm no statistician, so much of this goes straight over my head.
For my particular research question, I'm looking at differences in the composition and abundance of fishes associated with three different coral colony states (live, dead, overgrown by a particular 'coral-killing' sponge species).
I've collected my data from 6 sites, split between two islands. I've also recorded the particular growth form of each coral colony.
To summarise, my factors are as follows:
Colony state (live, dead, overgrown)
Growth form (encrusting, submassive, columnar)
Site (6; nested in Island)
Island (2)
I had originally performed Permanova (in Primer7) using colony state and growth form as fixed factors, with site and island as random. However, as per the advice of the aforementioned articles, I tried again with all four factors as fixed, which produced very different results from my original design. I've tried other combinations of fixed/random, which again, produce very different results.
Basically I'm just looking for any advice as to the correct way to proceed with this, and if anyone could provide a more definitive answer with how to determine the appropriate effect for one's factors.
Thanks in advance.
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Hi Joseph, I'm not sure if this is quite what is meant by Brian McGill. I will review the article again but I felt that his comments were concerned with
  1. parametric analysis of data and the associated assumptions made about that data; and
  2. making the distinction between blocking factors which could confound the results.
So from your description of your data and the factors:
  1. At a superficial level, the categorical values you have mentioned cannot be considered as blocking factors as they are not continuous values.
  2. The use of non-parametric analysis also removes the imposition of assumptions of distribution.
  3. The issue with categorical values is they sometimes represent an aggregation of information which may confound the results of analyses (and this is where the article is focused).
  4. The selection of sites in any experimental design is assumed to be random and therefore they should be considered as random factors in the analysis.
  5. The State and Growth factors are interesting. If I understand correctly, they are to be considered as potential determinants in fish diversity and abundance. If so, they should be regarded as fixed factors. If they are regarded as random factors, the relationship between fish diversity and abundance and those factors becomes substantially more complicated.
  6. You probably know this better than anyone, but results of statistical analyses tend to pose more questions than answers. So the iterative process will required you to look at the results and re-analyse.
It really does come down to your understanding of the ecosystems in which you sampled, and the variable you have collected. Investigating the independence of the factor you have collected prior to any construction of models or multivariate analyses is important. If they are independent, the assumption is that they are not confounding (or "blocking") factors and relationships between them can be compared as causal (or not, as the case may be).
From my point of view, I do not think you have done anything untoward in relation to considering all factors as random in the original PERMANOVA analysis. You could play with the Growth and State factors. However, I would suggest that you consider Bayesian analyses to determine the "degree of belief in an event" because (taken straight from Wikipedia but I've never seen expressed more clearly).
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Hi,
I would be interested to learn about other people's experiences with the use of spawning tiles to collect fish eggs from the field.
I know that some species of anemonefish, for instance, will readily deposit egg clutches on ceramic tiles when placed near their breeding site (e.g. Amphiprion percula or A. polymnus), while others do not (e.g. A. bicinctus or A. chrysopterus).
What other benthic breeding species is amenable to this approach?
Thanks very much!
Gerrit
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We collected many fish eggs in a coral reef off the coast of Vietnam. Is that Scarus genus?
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Hi.
Do you have some publication about this eggs?
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Dear researchers,
I am currently working on a project aiming to access the influences of a disturbance on coral reef fish assemblages.
As the title goes, I've encountered a major problem while computing FD indices. I am going to compute Functional Richness, Functional Evenness, Functional Dispersion proposed by Dr. Sébastien Villéger at 2008.
However, the lack of enough species/functional entities in most of our observation makes FD indices computation impossible (The size of the assemblage in every observation is small, usually less than species).
Here are some details of our research method
The field survey method we applied is "modified Stationary Point Count (SPC)", apart from the usual SPC, I select a patch of coral (ranging from 20*20cm2 - 150*150cm2 ) as an object and record down the species either swim by from less than 1m above or crawling on it, as well as the abundance of those species for 6 minutes. And thus we usually encountered less than 3 species. Three treatments are there and for each treatment, we collect 10 data (10 observation).
I appreciate any comment and piece of advice on this topic and thank you in advance.
Best,
Yu-De
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I concur with the prior answers. A methodological answer to why you're unable to calculate the metrics is because the FRic (at least in R package "FD") is calculated on a principal coordinates analysis that requires more species than traits in each sample. There are corrections (see ?dbFD or ?calc_metrics in R package "ecospace") you can use to try to get around the limitations. But if some samples really have less than 3 species, then you will not be able to calculate this metric. (Technically, all Villeger's metrics are based on PCoA space, but only FRic requires the "more species than traits" requirement for the convex hull calculation to work correctly. If using dbFD to calculate, you can "turn off" FRic calculation with dbFD(... calc.FRic=FALSE), and you'll still get the others.
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These two photos show two examples of holes in the scleractinian coral Porites astreoides. What organism is responsible for this? I tend to exclude a gall crab (Cryptochiridae), as they are not known to inhabit Porites. Maybe it indicates an epibiont like a cirripedian which cannot keep up with upward coral growth, but I only see these holes in this particular coral species.
Has anybody investigated this phenomenon?
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Another source of holes (or rings) are caused by contact with Zoanthus solanderi.  Have a look at Figure 1 in Karlson (1980). Bull Mar Sci 30:897.
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I am currently working on a paper and I need to know if coral skeleton density actually does increase with depth for all coral species, if this is species-specific, or if this issue is still unknown.  I am specifically talking about coral species that are found both in shallower water and at mesophotic depths.  However, I would also like to know if depth specialist corals only found in deeper water have higher skeleton densities than shallower coral of different species.  At the moment, I am only aware of 2 Caribbean studies (Baker and Weber 1975; Hughes 1987) that test this issue.  Please let me know if you are aware of others or have any other insight.  Thank you.
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Thanks Tomas.  I am aware of most of these (especially the one I wrote) but I was still looking for more coral types at deeper depths.  Anyone else have other suggestions?
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TL ~10cm. Perth coast, Western Australia, March 2016. I believe it may be a juvenile Spangled Emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus) or a closely related Lethrinid. I would like to have confirmation so it can be included in a soon-to-be-published book on the fishes of Rottnest Island. Any help with identification or suggestions greatly appreciated.
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Thanks Thomas, any thoughts on the Lethrinid juveniles I saw at Rottnest? I posted pics in a separate question, cheers
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Last year in Bonaire (Dutch Caribbean) I encountered this strange colony of the scleractinean coral Siderastrea siderea. It has circular patches of a few cms across with smaller polyps, the smallest in the center. Has anybody seen this as well and what causes this strange growth?
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For comparison I have added a photo of a normal Siderastrea siderea. In this colony, corallites are of equal size and the colony has a smooth surface. Possibly, the irregular corallites between the circular patches in the first photo indicate local hypertrophy. In case they are larger than average, and presuming a normal origin of the colony, other polyps may get less space and concentrate in round shallow cups. No answer to my original questions, but maybe this explains the process by which this pattern develops.
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TL ~16cm. Rottnest Island, Western Australia, May 2016. Depth 12m. I believe it is either Torquigener flavimaculosus or T. hicksi. I would like confirmation so it can be included in a soon-to-be-published book on the fishes of Rottnest Island. Any help with identification or suggestions greatly appreciated.
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Torquigener hicksi and T. flavimaculosus are very similar in colouration and extent of bristles on the body surface; the main difference seems to be the position of the upper end of the pectoral-fin base, which is about level with the lower orbit margin in T. hicksi, but situated nearly one eye-diameter below lower orbit margin in T. flavimaculosus. Difficult to see this character in your image, but the upper margin seems to be nearly level to the lower orbit margin. Therefore your image probably shows T. hicksi. That species is known to occur in your region anyway.
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 Since early 2015, on Bonaire (Dutch Caribbean), I sometimes encounter 'humps' on scleractinian corals.
They feel like cartilage or a hard gel and have a diameter of about 10-20 mm. The surface has a whitish-violet colour, possibly due to fine filaments. In cross sections some concentric layers may be recognized.
These humps were encountered on healthy corals (Orbicella faveolata, Agaricia agaricites), on morbid corals (Orbicella annularis, Siderastrea siderea), on dead coral next to live coral (Madracis auretenra) and on dead coral surfaces (unspecified), see enclosed photos.
Who has seen these humps as well and who knows what they are?
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In Reunion, it seems we have the same whitish-violet "humps of Cyanophytes", Phormidium sp. Humps are ca 5 cm in diameter and they occur on corals in eutrophic/dystrophic areas (Naim et al., 2013a). They have a "stromatolit-like" internal structure.
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Anything about their recovery as a community, the succession in assemblage, and their function in the recovery of the reef as a whole.
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Sorry, not me
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Looking for marine scientific contacts all around India, especially people working in Coral and Mangrove Conservation? Who knows where institutes are located, where projects can be joined and supported ? Thank you very much for any help!
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Dear Verena,
there are many government and NGOs that work on mangroves and corals in the Indian subcontinent.
our Institute National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change researches on both the ecosystems. 
Besides there are institutions like ZSI, BSI, CMFRI, CIARI, MKU, State Universities in the Govt side and SDMRI, Dakshin, ANET, NCF, MFF etc in the NGO side.
Best wishes for your research
Deepak
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Recently my lab mate has collected this specimen from coral reef habitat of Gujarat state, located on western coast of India. 
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Hi, I also can't see the photo...
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My snorkel buddy found this fish in a rocky habitat in Big fisherman's cove. It was hiding in the rocks in 2.5 meters of water in a shaded area. It has a orange head with foggy eyes, that reminded her of cataracts. When she got closer to take a picture the fish would raise its spines toward her. Pictures attached below. Thanks for the help we are really curious to know what it might be!
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The fish looks very different than S. marmoratus (Cabezon) here in northern BC waters and I think Larry is correct, the fish has the markings of S. guttata. Note that there is also a Red variation of S. guttata in California waters.
Tom
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How can live coral cover (%) affects the coral reef fish biomass (gram/500m2) and the Vibrio density (cfu/microliter) according to depth (3m and 10m) 
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Raveena,
The answer to your question depends on the hypothesis you are testing. Based on your question that is not clear.
If you are trying to find out if data sets from various data groups (e.g., reef sites) have same means or not then you can use ANOVA; but only if the data meet assumptions inherent in ANOVA analysis. If you are trying to find out if % live coral cover is different among various reefs sites at two depths then a two-way ANOVA can be used. You can also do that with Vibrio density. Most statistical software programs will do that.
On the other hand we use regression for forecasting and predictions. This assumes that there is a cause and effect relationship between the variables. You can run a regression analysis between % live coral cover (independent variable) and fish biomass (dependent variable) and between Vibrio density (independent variable) and fish biomass (dependent variable).
I do not think you are really interested in correlation since this only tests if there is an relationship between two or more variables, and the strength of that relationship. It does not imply causation.
Have a look at these links:
Hope this helps a little.
Tom
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Dear Colleagues,
I manage to photograph this sea pen in a seagrass bed at 2-3 m depth from Kuwait, Arabian Gulf. Could anyone help in the identification?
Best Regards,
M. Nithyanandan
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Thanks! Anita.
Best Regards,
M. Nithyanandan
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My colleague and I are studying the use of natural materials such as bamboo, mahogany and coconut tree as a substitute to the usual cement module. 
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Rene,
Wood and woody debris has been used successfully in freshwater systems to improve habitat complexity, thus increasing biodiversity in many instances (see attached PDFs).
I am not sure exactly what you are planning to use the wood for, is it as a settlement substrate or as construction material to build holding racks on which you can suspend coral cuttings? If you are planning to use wood as a settlement substrate I am not aware of any coral recruitment studies, to date, that have used wood and bark as settlement substrates. In my work on marine fouling communities in Barbados, using Mahogany wooden plates, I found that wood attracted settlement of a diverse fouling community, but I did not find any corals settling on the fouling plates. That is why I used terra cotta tiles in coral recruitment experiments later on.
If you are looking for affordable material, other than cement or terra cotta tiles, then using carbonate rocks collected from land or rock quarries is an option. Old carbonate rock can be sawed into small plates, it’s time consuming but easily done. In Philippines you may also have access to volcanic lava rock and that would make an excellent settlement substrate. Again these rocks can be cut.
I have attached a few papers you may find interesting.
Tom
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I'm making a thesis about Marine protected areas and how effective they are at preserving coral reefs. What would be good factors to consider regarding the health of the reef and the overall health of the ecosystem?
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Gabriel,
The following web site just became available, it's a great source of information on many aspects on MPAs.
Tom
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The photos of the soft corals are below, together with their corresponding sclerites. The samples were collected around Mauritius.
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My colleague and I conducting a research proposal about using natural materials such as mahogany, bamboo and coconut tree as modules in coral transplantation of Pocillopora verrucosa.
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 Thank you for your replies. I will definitely look into this more. :)
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Good morning.
My name is Mada Triandala Sibero. I'm student from Diponegoro University.
I'm a beginner in marine science field especially for sponge identification.
I got this sponge as my sample. According to the shape, it supposed to be Cinachyra sp., but according to spicules identification I don't find any journals shows the Cinachyra sp. has spicules like star shape.
I really need an explanation according to my result. And please correct me if there is any miss understanding.
I really hope there is someone in here could help me.
Thank you very much.
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Hi Mada, you need to post some photos of the different types of microscleres present in the sponge to get an ID
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As per the available literature, it is evident that increased PAR triggers coral bleaching which is further exaggerated by temperature by preventing the recovery mechanism. My doubt is, whether the corals will bleach only under the conditions of increased temperature while the PAR levels are optimum? Please put in your views, comments and suggestions.
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Kenneth M Towe @As you said, rise in SST due to El-nino events is beyond the human control and it cannot be prevented. As per the available literature, it is clear that light is the major factor that cause bleaching in corals and it is further exagerated by temperature. In exceptional cases, temperature alone can cause bleaching by increasing the metabolic rate of both corals and zooxanthellae, that in turn enhances the production of active oxygen that generate Reactive oxygen species (ROS) during photosynthesis. Experimental studies have proved that, PSII photosystems are damaged even at low light intensities. But this damage is repaired at an equivalent rate by the D1 protein. When the cycle of damage and repair is in balance, PSII continues to function at its full capacity. Exposure of corals to high temperatures accelerates this damage by preventing the recovery process.
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Please suggest me some articles on Oceanographic processes on coral reefs. I'm looking for articles that describes in detail the influence of oceanographic processes on coral reef processes, in general and not specific to any particular reef.
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I also endorse the Erik Wolanski book on the GBR.  The book includes a CD documenting ebb & flow of currents in reefs and how recruitment onto home reefs is assisted by the morphologic influences on the currents.  Cheers
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Conducting experiment on differences in biodiversity of micro-atolls between day/night. I am wondering when conducting the shannon index if I should remove species that remained the same in numbers. For example coral and rock boring urchins remained the same. Thanks for any help! 
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You should not remove them for the simple reason that their presence may have influenced the presence of or the absence of other species in the sample plot. However, do not forget to count them as merely present and score one.
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Oxybenzone is a highly damaging chemical with multiple damaging effects on coral reef populations.  Present in many sunscreens and cosmetic products, it is however poorly legislated.  An exception is Akumal, Mexico, where its use has been banned.  However, no scholarly articles seem to be available comparing the relative health of the coral populations before and after the ban was made.
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I'd read through both already, some great info though, many thanks nonetheless!
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Thank you very much.
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Dear Zhu Xiaojing,
Nr 1. looks like an Ascidia, with their red siphons and a Porifera (in yellow) covering some cirripeds; Nr 2. and nr 3. two species of Porifera ; nr 4. an Actiniaria and nr 5. a Zoanthidea. This is all I can help! I don't identify material until seeing it personally. The poriferans must be examined looking at their spicules, for example; the sea anemone must be identified by lots of characters they present, inclusively their cnidome and so on...
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Hello, I am not sure what kind of disease is presenting this coral, can somebody help me to identify it. Thank you!
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Hi,
I'd say option 1 of Marilyn Brandt but no recovery. This is recent and rapid death. Most diseases are opportunistic infections of a compromised host. This is likely the result of a combination of factors (high temperatures, algal competition, eutrophication, high microbial loads etc). In the end, it does not really matter which specific pathogens cause it and what specific symptoms it showed.
Cheers,
Maggy
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Hello
I want to identify some species from soft corals.
primarily i want to know any parts in anatomy and morphological features that knowing of them are necessary for identification,  such as:surface coenenchyme, interior coenenchyme, polyp walls, calyces, anthocodiae, tentacles, crown, points , polyp armatures and sclerites
i want to know these names refers for which part of octocorals.
please help me to find a useful source for these
thanks a lot
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I agree with Godfried that the guide by Fabricius and Alderslade is a good starting point. However,it stays at genus level ( which is probably very wise) and would not help for  positive identification at species level.  It is a good idea to get familiarised wih the anatomy of the soft corals and in this respect I recommend : Bayer FM, Grashoff M & Verseveldt J 1983  Illustrated trilingual glossary of morphological and anatomical terms applied to Octocorallia. EJ Brill, Leiden, 75 pp..
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So far I cannot decide which is the best material between PVC and galvanized steel for an artificial structure in seawater based on literature. Both seem to be non toxic and quite corrosion resistant. What do you think from your experiences?
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Galvanized steel is much more resistant to strong waves of storms and hurricanes. Thus this material would provide more durable artificial reefs.
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Could you help to identify the species? It was found in coraI reef of Paracel Islands. I appreciate your help very much.
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Thanks for the sincere help. Now we have identified it with your assistance. 
Cloeosiphon aspergillus (Quatrefages, 1865)
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I have data on coral juveniles density along with live coral cover, hard substratum cover and macroalgal cover from 6 study sites categorized in to 3 groups based on anthropogenic pressure viz. severe, moderate and low. I want to explore the extent to which the coral juvenile density is associated/influenced with/by the live coral, hard substratum and macroalgal cover. I tried multiple regression analysis. But my data fails to meet the assumptions of multiple regression analysis that there exists a negative correlation/no correlation between the juvenile coral density and other 3 parameters individually.Could anyone suggest me the best statistical method to explore it?
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There is also a PERMANOVA+ package in the most recent version of PRIMER.
Kev
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According to Rebecca Albright and her co-scientists it is possible to estimate that the reversal of 'Ocean acidification' will enhance net coral reef calcification: "The fractional uptake of added alkalinity was calculated according to equation (1) and averaged for all control and experimental days.
Using this method, we estimate that an average of 17.3% ± 2.3% 
 (1 s.e.m.) of the experimentally added alkalinity was taken up by the
reef community."
But this is not a measured estimate, it is a modelled estimate, and there is no validation of results. The paper is found here:
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Thanks, Kenneth,
this is interesting, but I am afraid we are getting on to another branch than the original question. My conclusion from what is discussed above, is that it is not possible (or at least reliable) to calculate or model calcification of Corals, based on flowrate and alkalinity measurements, as suggested in the paper by Albright et al., 2016.
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What is the minimum of fish target biomass in the reef to say the fish population is healthy?
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I would be very wary of applying any standard value as a benchmark. You want to make sure your comparisons are valid, so what type of reef do you have? A patch reef? A fore reef, Reef crest? Deep reef? Spur and groove? And so on ... Then, what type of reef did the benchmark come from? Is it the same as what you're investigating? Here in the Florida Keys, I know the fish assemblage on a patch reef is quite distinct from that of a spur and groove, which is different from a deep reef as well. Any comparison between these type would not be valid. 
I think you are better off to compare to results from a reference site that you know is "healthy."
Past that, I also wouldn't use fish biomass as the sole metric of "health," especially reef health in general. The composition of the fish community is just as important. For instance, do you have an appropriate suite of grazers? Various stressors (e.g., over-fishing) can alter the species composition in ways that may not be reflected in total biomass.
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I am using Hyperion data for Coral Reefs extraction. Nine different types of classes (Coral Reef) I am intended to define and classify the Hyperion image accordingly using OBIA method. How to define different rules for these classes in eCognition software??
Classes would be, Outer Reef flat, Deeper Reef flat, Inner reef flat, Exposed Reef flat, Exposed Reef flat-Algae and so on.
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It would be better first to derive few indices, then finding the range of different classes by visual interpretation. After doing all these you can set your rule.
If you find any difficulties, feel free to contact me. 
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Any recommendations for a sponge taxonomist? I really need help and suggestions for the identification of mangrove-associated sponges. Thank you!
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Thank you so much Dr. Hunting!
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I am doing a niche modelling in a global scale for a shallow water coral specie, therefore I need a good resolution for bathymetry data close to the shore in a big scale.
I am using ETOPO1, but it returns wrong results when estimating seafloor grid in shallow waters, probably because it uses nearby soundings both as constraints and to save gravity-bathymetry relationships.
So I was thinking about using a interpolation method to artificially get a higher resolution data set that represents better the coral niche. But I am not sure if this would work as I expect and what interpolation method I should use. Can anyone help me with that?
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Thanks Guillermo, I will have a look.
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I am currently working on secondary metabolites from fire corals (Millepora spp.). Unfortunately, I am having difficulty at getting this particular sample identified to the species level. Checking the known Millepora species found in this part of the world, the closest match is M. dichotoma. This sample was collected in the Philippines. Can I request for expert assistance with taxonomic identification, if possible. I have included some photos of the animal. Thanks in advance.
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Dear Rafael,
Your identification is probably correct. See:
Razak, T.B., Hoeksema, BW (2003) The hydrocoral genus Millepora (Hydrozoa: Capitata: Milleporidae) in Indonesia. Zool. Verh. Leiden 345: 313-336. 
In reply to Jacskon: Millepora is not a scleractinian. Barcoding only helps when material in genbank has been identified correctly. Use of morphological characters is fast and without expenses.
Best wishes, Bert
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This coral is from Northeastern Brazil.
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Hi Christinne,
You're welcome! I've seen those barnacles on S. siderea many times and I think that Andre may be correct that nutrient levels in the the system may have increased. Good luck!
Best,
C
arly
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This photo was taken on Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean. It shows a Bicolor damsel Stegastes partitus with a parasite on its eye. I guess it is an isopod. The isopod Anilocra partiti is known from this damselfish species, but it is supposed to attach under the eye. Also it should be coloured black to slate gray (Kensley & Schotte 1989).
Maybe this is a small male A. partiti isopod before sex, colour and host location changes. But it might as well be another species.
Does anybody know?
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This parasite looks like a leech, Trachelobdella lubrica.
We have found this leech attaching around the eyes of this fish on the paper you mentioned above
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Specifically Chlorurus gibbus & Scarus niger.
If not in the Red Sea, any other locality could be helpfull.
Thank you!
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The spawning seasons of Hipposcarus harid and C. sordidus were detected in Hurghada to be from May to July based on the gonado-somatic index that reached its maximum in June.
Larvae of unidentified scarid species (possibly Scarus) were collected in August and sepetmber in large numbers indicating a spawning seasons in July and August.
In general parrotfish in the warmer Month of the year in the Red Sea based on reproductive biology and larval fish survey (Abu El-Regal, 2013, Abu El-Regal et al., 2008; Abu El-Regal, 2015).
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I would like to keep the coral samples alive for Zooxanthellae and DNA extraction purposes
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Any Branching corals such as Acropora should be kept in plastic bags half filled with seawater and oxygen. The coral pieces should be fixed in thermocool"" and each piece of coral should not touch each other. Same way other Montiopora digitata collected in plastic bags should be kept in thermocool rectangular  containers with some icecubes for reduction of temperature. care should be taken that the coral pieces should not secrete a large amount of mucus. These corals may withstand 24 hours transportation through air cargo.
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My colleagues are working on feeding preferences of macro symbionts of feather stars. They gathered data on stable isotopes from both sea lilies and its symbionts(shrimps, crabs, ,polychaetes, myzostomida etc). The results are quite surprising and not easy to interpret, so we want to have some reference points. Some people (who work with stable isotopes) advise us, that it might be more useful to collect data on primary consumers (not primary producents) from our area to have such a reference point.
But than we realized, that it is not an easy task to find really specialized primary consumer on the coral reef, as there is little known about food spectrum of most coral reefs inhabitant and many of them are mixotrophic.
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Hi Yury,
first of all, it would be important to match the stable isotopes data with gut content info. The primary consumers you are studying are filterfeeders, so they won't we strictly primary consumers. They are filtering POM, and Bacteria too. Therefore, as you indicated, they are all mixotrophic and probably, when you plot C vs N, you get a cloud of all species mixed with the chrinoids. So, this cloud is your base of "primary consumers" perhaps you could try to go upper from there. Like crabs and snails feeding on them and fishes. But, again, only stable isotopes is a weak info. You can match not only with gut content but also diving observations.
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Could it be be Leptastrea inequalis? It is collected from a partially exposed rocky shore.
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Dear Jackson Achankunju your specimen looks like a soft coral, check out Palythoa caribaeorum (Anthozoa, Cnidaria, Zoantharia) 
Regards 
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The waterpik generates large amounts of water making it difficult to freeze small amounts of samples in the field. How do I remove only the tissue and symbionts of coral while preserving the material for isotope analysis? 
What waterpik do you recommend? 
how long it takes for the removal of 20 cm2?
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Very good to have this clarified.  So, adding the skeleton I could have non carbonate mineral, organic matrix and endolithic algae. I will try the airbrush. Thank´s a lot, Kenneth!!
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Has anyone have already seen Pocillopora verrucosa and meandrina spawning larvae?
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Hi Erika,
thank you!
Antoine
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I am interested to quantify percentage of recent coral bleaching and bleaching severity in some small fringing and patch reef in the Arabian sea. Please suggest me.
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Hello Kalyan, I would suggest to do 50m-Line Intercept Transects, separated in 10m-samples, but to do a lot of them, parallel to the reef front.
Measure concomitantly the living corals and the different stages of bleaching (bleached-living, bleached-dead but still "naked", bleached-dead covered by small turfs) with if possible the name of the different coral species/or genus. 
My best wishes for your research,
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Hi all,
this white snapping shrimp was collected from bottom gill nets by traditional fishermen, east coast of India and was found alive with a soft coral. Looking at it from the eye and the hairy uropod, we found it to be close to Synalpheus neomeris (de Man, 1897). Need confirmation from experts working on snapping shrimp groups.
Best regards
Deepak
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Not sure about the distribution range. But you can refer the primary literature for more details.
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I just try the Acropora coral, if it is more than acropora, i would like to know
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 Dear Sibi,
Acropora spp, Stylophora pistillata, Pocillopora damicoris are the most commonly preferred branching coral species for transplantation due to their faster growth rates. However Acropora spp is a very fragile species and are highly susceptible to bleaching related mortality but still very popular species for restoration efforts. Depending upon your objectives you should select a range of species including massive corals such as Porites spp, Platygyra spp, Dipsastrea (=Favia) spp etc is very ideal. Although they are slow growing, they are quite resilient species and have higher bleaching thresholds and faster recovery rate.
Before designing any transplantation works kindly read the attached papers which will give  you an idea of which is an ideal species based on your objectives and you can build and maintain successful nurseries to achieve long-term reef restoration objectives. 
Good luck with your coral transplantation.
Best Regards,
M. Nithyanandan
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Photograph taken during underwater survey in West Coast of India. At 20m depth.
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I would think it is Favia favus (now know as Dipsastraea favus). (look at Veron JEN (2000). Corals of the World. Australian Inst Mar Sci  Vol.3 page 116 & 117)
It is not Favia maritima  (now known as Dipsastraea Blainville )as this species starts to show some form of poorly formed Paliform lobes and with Favia favus there are no such signs of Paliform lobes at all, it is clean. Your picture is of high quality so you can zoom in and have a look at the corallite structure very well.
The other point is that you can see that there is generally Intra-tentaclar budding (at the edges of the colony margins), a general indicator of the genus Favia.  
thanks 
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I'm trying to determine some preliminary distribution info for a few soft coral species that may cross over from temperate to tropical waters.  I'm particularly interested in Telesto sanguinea, Leptagorgia virgulata, L. hebes. Have you seen them further south than mid-Florida and if so where did you locate them? Also, have you seen them in the Gulf of Mexico?
Thanks!
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You may wish to check out NOAA's Deep-Sea Coral & Sponge Data Portal.  
The map portal (click on the map) has a data query tab, where you can enter a scientific name.  While most of the records are currently from US waters, there are quite a few records from elsewhere in the Caribbean (mostly from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History).  Our database focuses on species that occur deeper than 50 m, so it may not capture some of the species you are interested in.
There are records of Telesto sanguinea from the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico.
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The color of the Coral specimen is white with very minute pores around the body with irregular horizontal lines . Certain type of Barnacles are also attached over it along with a  tube building polychaeta shell (broken).  Is this a non photosynthetic type of coral ?