Scleractinian reef corals: identification notes

Abstract

The purpose of this booklet is to highlight the characters that are most important for distinguishing species of scleractinian reef corals that I have needed to identify or compare for various purposes. Information is taken from:

• The Australian Institute of Marine Science monograph series

• Corals of the World by Veron, 2000

• New Species Described in Corals of the WorId by Veron 2002 for species newly described or revised by Veron

• Staghorn Corals of the World by Wallace, 1999 for species of Acropora

• My notes and observations (1) of the Museum of Tropical Queensland collection for skeletal characters and (2) during field work

• Other references as listed under the References at the end of these notes