Eastern Pacific Coral Reef Provinces, Coral Community Structure and Composition: 5 An Overview Peter W. Glynn, Juan J. Alvarado, Stuart Banks, Jorge Cortés, Joshua S. Feingold, Carlos Jiménez, James E. Maragos, Priscilla Martínez, Juan L. Maté, Diana A. Moanga, Sergio Navarrete, Héctor Reyes-Bonilla, Bernhard Riegl, Fernando Rivera, Bernardo Vargas-Ángel, Evie A. Wieters, and Fernando A. Zapata J.L. Maté Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 0843-03092 Panama, By consensus, authors are arranged alphabetically after lead author Republic of Panama P. W. Glynn e-mail: [email protected] D.A. Moanga P.W. Glynn (&) Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of University of California, Berkeley, # 326 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, 94720, CA, USA Miami, FL 33149, USA e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] S. Navarrete J.J. Alvarado Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Advanced Studies in Escuela de Biología/Museo de Biología, Centro de Investigación Ecology and Biodiversity, Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Universidad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia, Universidad Católica de Chile, Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San Pedro, San José, Costa Rica Casilla 114-d, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] S. Banks H. Reyes-Bonilla Marine Ecosystem Research Programme, Charles Darwin Departamento Académico de Biología Marina, Universidad Research Station, Galápagos, Ecuador; Conservation International, Autónoma de Baja California Sur, Carretera al sur km 5.5. col. El c/o Christian Lavoie, Av. Catalina Aldáz N34-181 y Portugal, Mezquitito, 23080 La Paz, B.C.S, Mexico Edificio Titanium II, Piso 4, of. 402, Quito, Ecuador e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] B. Riegl J. Cortés Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Halmos Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova (CIMAR), Escuela de Biología, Ciudad de la Investigación, Southeastern University, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania, FL Universidad de Costa Rica, 2060 San Pedro, San José, Costa Rica 33004, USA e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] J.S. Feingold F. Rivera Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Halmos Instituto Nazca de Investigaciones Marinas, Avenida 12 de College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Octubre # 1615, entre calle 20 y 21, Salinas, Ecuador Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, e-mail: [email protected] FL 33314-7796, USA B. Vargas-Ángel e-mail: [email protected] Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Coral Reef Ecosystem C. Jiménez Division, NOAA Inouye Regional Center, 1845 Wasp Blvd, Bldg Energy, Environment and Water Research Center (EEWRC), The #176, Honolulu, HI 96818, USA Cyprus Institute (CyI), P.O. Box 274561645 Nicosia, Cyprus e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] E.A. Wieters J.E. Maragos Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, and Departamento Department of Geography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Kilauea, P.O. Box 1338Honolulu, HI 96754, USA Universidad Católica de Chile, La Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] P. Martínez F.A. Zapata Instituto Nazca de Investigaciones Marinas, Avenida 12 de Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Apartado Aéreo Octubre, # 1615, entre calle 20 y 21, Salinas, Ecuador 25360, Cali, Colombia e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017 107 P.W. Glynn et al. (eds.), Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific, Coral Reefs of the World 8, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7499-4_5 108 P.W. Glynn et al. Abstract Advances in our knowledge of eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) coral reef biogeography and ecology during the past two decades are briefly reviewed. Fifteen ETP subregions are recognized, including mainland and island localities from the Gulf of California (Mexico) to Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). Updated species lists reveal a mean increase of 4.2 new species records per locality or an overall increase of 19.2 % in species richness during the past decade. The largest increases occurred in tropical mainland Mexico, and in equatorial Costa Rica and Colombia, due mainly to continuing surveys of these under-studied areas. Newly discovered coral communities are also now known from the southern Nicaraguan coastline. To date 47 zooxanthellate scleractinian species have been recorded in the ETP, of which 33 also occur in the central/south Pacific, and 8 are presumed to be ETP endemics. Usually no more than 20–25 zooxanthellate coral species are present at any given locality, with the principal reef-building genera being Pocillopora, Porites, Pavona, and Gardineroseris. This compares with 62–163 species at four of the nearest central/south Pacific localities. Hydrocorals in the genus Millepora also occur in the ETP and are reviewed in the context of their global distributions. Coral community associates engaged in corallivory, bioerosion, and competition for space are noted for several localities. Reef framework construction in the ETP typically occurs at shallow depths (2–8 m) in sheltered habitats or at greater depths (10–30 m) in more exposed areas such as oceanic island settings with high water column light penetration. Generally, eastern Pacific reefs do not reach sea level with the development of drying reef flats, and instead experience brief periods of exposure during extreme low tides or drops in sea level during La Niña events. High rates of mortality during El Niño disturbances have occurred in many ETP equatorial areas, especially in Panama and the Galápagos Islands during the 1980s and 1990s. Remarkably, however, no loss of resident, zooxanthellate scleractinian species has occurred at these sites, and many ETP coral reefs have demonstrated significant recovery from these disturbances during the past two decades. Keywords Species distributions Á Biogeography Á Eastern Pacific Á Coral occurrences Á Species richness 5.1 Introduction 1996), brought about extinctions of once-shared transo- ceanic species, and the invasion of coral species from the Geographic isolation, variable oceanographic conditions, west by long-distance dispersal (see Chap. 2,López-Pérez, and a peninsula-like shallow shelf spanning a relatively and Chap. 16, Lessios and Baums; López-Pérez and Budd narrow latitudinal corridor, have all figured prominently in 2009). the formation and development of the eastern tropical Pacific The occurrence of reef-building corals along coastal coral reef region. The vast majority of eastern Pacific corals western America is highly skewed toward the northern belong to species occurring in the central and south Pacific hemisphere, with a strong presence of corals from the (e.g., Wells 1983; Cortés 1986; Grigg and Hey 1992; Veron northern Gulf of California, Mexico (*30°N) to just a few 1995; Glynn and Ault 2000). Dana (1975) recognized this degrees south of the equator along coastal Ecuador (2°S). faunal affinity, and suggested the existence of genetic con- Modern zooxanthellate coral communities have not been nectivity between the central Pacific Line Islands and the reported on continental shores south of the Gulf of Guaya- equatorial eastern Pacific by larval dispersal via the North quil, Ecuador, which are under the influence of the cool, Equatorial Counter Current (NECC). A few species are north-flowing Peru Coastal Current (Fig. 5.1). Five rela- eastern Pacific endemics, and there is a near absence of tively isolated oceanic island groups, from the northern-most Caribbean and western Atlantic species along western Revillagigedo Islands off Mexico to the Galápagos Islands American shores. The narrowing and eventual closing of the lying astride the equator, also belong to the eastern Pacific Central American isthmus, 3.5-3.0 Ma (Coates and Obando coral reef region. Vibrant coral communities and incipient 5 Eastern Pacific Coral Reef Provinces, Coral Community Structure … 109 Fig. 5.1 Eastern Pacific coral and coral reef localities, Gulf of California, Mexico to Ecuador, and remote Rapa Nui (Easter) and Salas y Gómez Islands, Chile. Red diamonds identify oceanic localities supporting coral communities and coral reefs reef development also appear far to the south and west, about over 1000 km west of Chile, represent the most isolated ETP 4000 km from the Galápagos Islands and coastal Ecuador. coral outpost (Glynn et al. 2003, 2007; Hubbard and Garcia Rapa Nui (Easter) and Salas y Gómez Islands, at 27°S and 2003; see Chap. 6, Toth et al.). 110 P.W. Glynn et al. The most recent overview of the eastern tropical Pacific scleractinian corals (Glynn and Ault 2000), bryozoans (ETP) coral reef region was published over 10 years ago, in (Banta 1991), crustaceans (Garth 1991), molluscs (Schel- Latin American Coral Reefs edited by Jorge Cortés(2003). tema 1988; Emerson 1991), echinoderms (Lessios et al. This work comprised seven chapters dedicated to the ETP, 1998), and fishes (Robertson and Allen 1996; Robertson describing coral communities and coral reefs from mainland et al. 2004; Lessios and Robertson 2006; see Chap. 16, Mexico to Ecuador, including offshore islands from the Lessios and Baums)—have crossed this deep water stretch