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New records of scleractinian corals from shallow waters of the Ionian coast of Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2013

Douglas Fenner ,
Francesca Riolo  and
Michele Vittorio
Douglas Fenner
Affiliation:
Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources, PO Box 7390, Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799, USA
Francesca Riolo*
Affiliation:
Mappamondo GIS, Via Rubens 3, 43100 Parma, Italy
Michele Vittorio
Affiliation:
Mappamondo GIS, Via Rubens 3, 43100 Parma, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F. Riolo, Mappamondo GIS, Via Rubens 3, 43100 Parma, Italy email: [email protected]
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Abstract

A total of ten coral species are reported from the Capo Rizzuto (Calabria) Marine Protected Area on the Ionian coast of Italy. Two species, Polycyathus muellerae and Paracyathus pulchellus, are new records for the Ionian Sea, a finding that expands their current known distribution range. Eight species are new records for the Ionian coast of Italy. Another species, Astroides calycularis, was identified from a photograph taken in the area, but its presence was not confirmed in the field. The solitary zooxanthellate coral Balanophyllia europaea was found associated with the yellow encrusting coralline alga, Lithophyllum pustulatum, which represents a novel observation requiring further investigation.

Keywords

MediterraneanIonian SeacoralsScleractiniaazooxanthellate
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 6 , 2013 , e136
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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References

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