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The Westernmost Record of the Coral Leptoseris kalayaanensis in the South China Sea

2010; Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica; Volume: 49; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

1810-522X

Bert W. Hoeksema, Tatyana N. Dautova, О. В. Савинкин, V. S. Tuan, Hoang-Xuan Ben, Phan-Kim Hoang, Hoang-Trung Du,

Marine and fisheries research

Three specimens of the coral Leptoseris kalayaanensis Licuanan and Alino, 2009 (Scleractinia: Agariciidae) were discovered (15 m depth) in the Kalaayan Is. (eastern South China Sea) in 1999 (Licuanan and Alino 2009). One of us (PKH) found an additional specimen in 2007 (13 m depth) on the North Danger Reef, northern Spratly Is. (Fig. 1). The present specimen (Fig. 2) was photographed at 13 m deep on the side of a large boulder underneath a steep cliff (Hon Noc I., off Nha Trang, 12.190°N, 109.341°E). Despite its small size (39 mm long), the coral was easily detected (June 2008) because of its white-tipped spines and white coral margin, which contrast with the coral’s brown upper surface. No other Leptoseris species are known to show such spines. In this coral, the spines are relatively short and blunt (up to 4 mm) compared to those of the larger type specimens (~10 cm in diameter and spines up to 1 cm long), probably because it is less fully grown.