The Hermatypic Scleractinian (Hard) Coral Fauna of the Gulf 1 1 Bernhard M. Riegl, Francesca Benzoni, Kaveh Samimi-Namin, and Charles Sheppard 11.1 Introduction Iranian coral fauna is only sketchily known but likely rich. Due to counter clock wise pattern of the water circulation in The harsh climate of the Gulf puts severe constraints on coral the Gulf, the northern part and the Iranian coastline has survival and, therewith, on biodiversity by restricting the better environmental conditions (lower temperature, lower number of coral species that can survive in these conditions. salinity, better aragonite saturation, greater depth, see Chap. Despite this and despite being at the western high-latitude 2 ). This results in increasing species richness towards the edge of Indo-Pacifi c reef coral distribution, the Gulf’s coral Straits of Hormuz. In general, coral diversity decreases from fauna is surprisingly rich. Within the region, the richest Gulf east to west and from north to south. This has been seen in coral fauna has been recorded from Saudi Arabia, around the octocorals (Samimi-Namin and van Ofwegen 2009 ) and the islands of Jana and Karan (50 species, Basson et al. 1977 ) . same trend exists for hard corals (Samimi-Namin, unpub- Fadlallah et al. ( 1993 ) subsequently recorded 23 and 19 spe- lished data). It is still unclear where the main species bound- cies in specifi c sample sites on these two islands and sug- aries are located and therefore further studies are necessary gested that species richness may actually be lower than to fully reveal coral diversity in the Gulf. suggested by Basson et al. ( 1977 ) . This is also supported by Species richness in the Gulf is subject to temporal fl uctua- data in Vogt ( 1996 ) . The UAE presently has the second-rich- tions caused by mass mortality events that affect preferen- est documented coral fauna, with 34 scleractinian species tially certain species (Shinn 1976 ; George and John 1999 ; (Riegl 1999 ) . More comprehensive studies in other areas and Riegl 1999 ; Chaps. 2 and 5 ). A study in Jebel Ali, Dubai, the region would likely reveal a quite homogeneous fauna showed six species of Acropora having at least temporarily with a gentle diversity gradient across the Gulf proper. The disappeared from the region’s live fauna after the sea-surface temperature anomaly of 1996 but they later recruited into the area again (Riegl 1999 ) . Subsequently, most of the area’s fauna was lost to coastal reclamation. It is likely that the ram- pant alteration of coastal and shallow marine habitats will B. M. Riegl (*) lead to further, potentially irreversible losses in coral diver- National Coral Reef Institute , Nova Southeastern University , sity (Sheppard et al. 2010 ; Chap. 16 ). Dania Beach , FL , USA e-mail: [email protected] Overall, much confusion exists with regards to the precise number of species occurring in the Gulf (Table 11.1 ). There F. Benzoni University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, is reason to believe that a detailed taxonomic reanalysis I-20126 Milano, Italy would reduce the number of reliably recorded species within Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) , the inner Gulf to around 40. The recent discovery of 101 Promenade Roger Laroque , BP A5, 98848 Noumea Cedex , Psammocora albopicta (Benzoni 2006 ) also demonstrates New Caledonia , France the unsatisfactory status of our taxonomic understanding of e-mail: [email protected] Gulf corals. A markedly richer fauna exists in the Straits of K. Samimi-Namin Hormuz and apparently even on some of the Iranian islands Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, 2300 RA Leiden , within the Gulf proper. Depending on whether one counts The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] islands like Hormuz and Larak as situated within the Gulf or not, the species richness of the fauna changes quite dramati- C. Sheppard University of Warwick , Coventry , CV4 7AL , UK cally (see Table 11.1 ). In this chapter, we concentrate on the e-mail: [email protected] species widely distributed inside the Gulf proper. B.M. Riegl and S.J. Purkis (eds.), Coral Reefs of the Gulf: Adaptation to Climatic Extremes, 187 Coral Reefs of the World 3, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3008-3_11, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 188 B.M. Riegl et al. Table 11.1 List of hermatypic coral species names mentioned as occurring in the Gulf. Species Record in Remarks Acropora clathrata (Brook 1891) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 According to Wallace ( 1999 ) this species does not occur in Gulf According to Veron (2000 ) , records are partly Acropora downingi , but also A. clathrata . We provide evidence in the following that it does indeed occur Acropora pharaonis (Edwards and Haime 1860) 1,5,6,8 Acropora horrida (Dana 1846 ) 1,4,5,6 Acropora valenciennesi (Edwards and Haime 1860) 1,5,6,8 Acropora arabensis (Hodgson and Carpenter 1995 ) 2,3,4,5,6,8,9 Acropora fl orida (Dana 1846 ) 5 Acropora valida (Dana 1846 ) 3,5,6 Acropora nasuta (Dana 1846 ) 6,8 Acropora tenuis (Dana 1846 ) 5,6 Status doubtful, no records after 1996 Acropora downingi Wallace 1999 6,8,9 Acropora divaricata (Dana 1846 ) 8 Acropora muricata (Linnaeus 1758) 8 Montipora verrucosa (Lamarck 1816) 6 Montipora venosa (Ehrenberg 1834) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Montipora mollis Bernard 1897 6 Montipora effl orescens Bernard 1897 6 Montipora tuberculosa (Lamarck 1816) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Montipora monasteriata (Forskål 1775) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Montipora foliosa (Pallas 1766) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Montipora stellata Bernard 1897 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Montipora aequituberculata Bernard 1897 2,6,9 Montipora circumvallata (Scheer and Pillai 1983) 1 Montipora informis 9 Montipora spongiosa 9 Astreopora expansa Brueggemann 1877 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Astreopora myriophthalma (Lamarck 1816) 6 Stylocoeniella guentheri Basset-Smith 1890 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Madracis kirbyi Veron and Pichon 1976 6,7,9 Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus 1758) 1,2,6,9 Pocillopora verrucosa (Ellis and Solander 1786) 2,6 Seriatopora caliendrum Ehrenberg 1834 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Stylophora pistillata (Esper 1797) 1,2,3,4,5,6,9 Euphyllia glabrescens (Chamisso and Eysenhardt 1821) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Physogyra lichtensteini (Edwards and Haime 1851) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Galaxea fascicularis (Linnaeus 1767) 6 Pseudosiderastrea tayamai Yabe and Sugiyama 1935 1,5,6 This species likely does not occur in the Gulf (Benzoni, see below) Anomastraea irregularis Marenzeller 1901 1,2,6,7,9 Siderastrea savignyana Edwards and Haime 1850 1,2,3,5,6,7,9 Psammocora contigua (Esper 1795) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Psammocora haimeana Edwards and Haime 1851 1,6 Psammocora superfi cialis Gardiner 1898 6,7 A recently described new species Psammocora stellata 9 Psammocora albopicta Benzoni 2006 9 Coscinaraea monile (Forskaal 1775) 1,2,5,6,7,9 Coscinaraea columna (Dana 1846 ) 6,7 Pavona cactus (Forskål 1775) 1,2,6 Pavona frondifera (Lamarck 1816) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Pavona varians (Verrill 1864) 1,2,6 Pavona explanulata (Lamarck 1816) 1,2,6,7 (continued) 11 The Hermatypic Scleractinian (Hard) Coral Fauna of the Gulf 189 Table 11.1 (continued) Species Record in Remarks Pavona diffl uens (Lamarck 1816) 1,6 Pavona venosa (Ehrenberg 1834) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Pavona decussata (Dana 1846 ) 6,7,9 Record probably from Arabian Sea Pavona duerdeni Vaughan 1907 6 Leptoseris solida (Quelch 1886) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Leptoseris mycetoseroides Wells 1954 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Leptoseris foliosa Dinesen 1980 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Gardineroseris planulata Dana 1846 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Cycloseris curvata (Hoeksema 1989 ) 6,9 Hoeksema 1989 designated Cycloseris cyclolites, previously recorded by Burchard, to this species Echinophyllia aspera (Ellis and Solander 1788) 1,6,9 Oxypora lacera (Verrill 1864) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Hydnophora exesa (Pallas 1766) 1,6,7 Hydnophora pilosa 9 Hydnophora microconos (Lamarck 1816) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Turbinaria peltata (Esper 1794) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 Turbinaria reniformis (Bernard 1896) 1,2,5,6,7,9 Turbinaria mesenterina (Lamarck 1816) 1,6 Tubastrea aurea (Quoy and Gaimard 1833) 1 Blastomussa merleti (Wells 1961) 1,6 Acanthastrea echinata (Dana 1846 ) 1,3,5,6,7,9 Acanthastrea hillae Wells 1955 1,6 Acanthastrea maxima Sheppard and Salm 1988 6,9 Symphyllia radians Edwards and Haime 1849 6,9 Iran only Symphyllia agaricia Edwards and Haime 1849 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Favia pallida (Dana 1846 ) 1,2,3,5,6,7,9 Favia speciosa (Dana 1846 ) 6,7,9,10 Favia favus (Forskål 1775) 1,2,4,5,6,9 Favia rotumana (Gardiner 1898) 1,5,6 Barabattoia amicorum (Edwards and Haime 1850) 5 Status doubtful Favites pentagona (Esper 1794) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 Favites spinosa Dana 1846 6 Favites chinensis (Verrill 1866) 1,6 Favites abdita (Ellis and Solander 1786) 6 Favites acuticollis 9 Favites complanata (Ehrenberg 1834) 1,6 Platygyra daedalea (Ellis and Solander 1786) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 Platygyra lamellina (Ehrenberg 1834) 5,6 Platygyra sinensis (Edwards and Haime 1849) 1,6 Platygyra cf . crosslandi (Matthai 1928) 5 Leptoria phrygia (Ellis and Solander 1786) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Plesiastrea versipora (Lamarck 1816) 1,2,3,5,6,7,9 Cyphastrea microphthalma (Lamarck 1816) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 Cyphastrea serailia (Forskål 1775) 1,2,3,5,6,7,9 Leptastrea purpurea (Dana 1846 ) 1,6,9 Leptastrea transversa Klunzinger 1879 1,2,3,5,6,7,9 Leptastrea inaequalis Klunzinger 1879 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Parasimplastrea sheppardi Veron 2000 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Echinopora gemmacea Lamarck 1816 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Echinopora lamellosa (Esper 1795) 6 Record probably from Arabian Sea Porites lutea Edwards and Haime 1851 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 Porites solida (Forskål 1775) 5,6 Porites lobata (Dana 1846 ) 5,6,9 (continued) 190 B.M.