After starting the barcoding of the total fish fauna at Moorea (Society Islands, French Polynesia) in 2006 under the BIOCODE project (http://mooreabiocode.org/), CRIOBE has spent the last 7 years continuing the genetic barcoding of coral reef fishes over the 118
In 1998, we visited Rangiroa Atoll shortly after sea temperatures rose 6 degrees greater than summer norms and caused massive coral bleaching. Virtually all of the branching coral Pocillopora died and a quarter of the mound-shaped coral, Porites, lost almost
Corals in tropical reefs are like trees in a forest. We all know from the tiny acorn, the mighty oak tree grows but where do the mighty corals come from? You’d think we know all there is to know about
Spotting new fish species that you’ve never seen before and can’t put a name to is one of the many exciting and fulfilling aspects of being a fish surveyor with The Living Oceans Foundation’s Global Reef Expedition. This latest expedition
Cauliflower coral, in the genus Pocillopora, are among the most widely distributed and most abundant corals found on the fore reef. These branching corals are covered with small bumps (called verrucae), which contain corallites and help in the identification of
During our surveys in the Acteon group we saw very few fish. There were few sharks or other large predators and even large herbivorous fish such as surgeonfishes and parrotfishes were noticeably low in number. The Acteon fish communities were
Mention coral reefs and most people think of sweeping landscapes of corals, sponges, and fish. While those do exist in Hao Atoll, researchers are also seeing the reef through different lenses. Satellite Imagery for Reef Habitats and Geomorphology of Coral
Research dives can be distilled down to lists of what is seen and what is not seen. Surveying the reef means figuring out what is there and what is missing. For the last few days, the science team has been
The Global Reef Expedition surveys aim to document what is happening on our coral reefs below water level, but on transit to our dive sites and in between dives, it is hard not to notice the abundant sea birds that
The French Polynesian scientists participating on the Society Islands mission took the opportunity to quantify the abundance of a number of French Polynesia invertebrates… species that have, or may have, a commercial and food subsistence role in the near future.
