Abstract
The biodiversity of Bermuda’s coral reef fauna has been extensively studied by natural historians and taxonomic specialists since the mid- nineteenth century. Short taxonomic histories of the initial records and names of Scleractinia and Octocorallia found in Bermuda culminate in complete and up-to-date lists of the currently accepted species. There are 26 species of shallow-water azooxanthellate and zooxanthellate scleractinians, and 23 species of deep water azooxanthellate scleractinians reported from within the Bermuda EEZ; 25 species of shallow-water octocorallians and 33 of deep-water octocorals; and eight antipatharians. A few submersible explorations of the mesophotic zone and the deeper environs of Bermuda’s exclusive economic zone have revealed new species records for scleractinians, octocorallians and antipatharians. Recent and new records for six scleractinians, 24 octocorallians and 2 antipatharian species, presented in this review, include the first documentation of the scleractinian families Flabellidae, Stenocyathidae, and Turbinoliidae, the octocoral families Nephtheidae, Chyrsogorgiidae, Isididae, Keroeididae and Clavulariidae, and the antipatharian family Schizopathidae in Bermuda. Explanations are provided for confusion regarding records of Isophyllia rigida, Montastraea annularis, and Siderastraea siderea in Bermuda.
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Acknowledgements
Stephen Cairns and Dennis Opresko, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, assisted with the identification of specimens for new species records for Bermuda; Andrew Cabrinovic, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom and Lisa Greene, Bermuda Natural History Museum assisted with collection information; Alison Green, Bermuda Natural History Library and Michel Paon, Dalhousie University Libraries provided access to taxonomic resources; and Wolfgang Sterrer has worked for many years on documenting Bermuda’s marine biodiversity. This is a contribution of the Bermuda Biodiversity Project BBP#201.
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Locke, J.M., Bilewitch, J.P., Coates, K.A. (2013). Scleractinia, Octocorallia and Antipatharia of Bermuda’s Reefs and Deep-Water Coral Communities: A Taxonomic Perspective Including New Records. In: Sheppard, C. (eds) Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories. Coral Reefs of the World, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5965-7_14
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