Occurrence of the supposedly endemic Australian azooxanthellate coral Astrangia woodsi Wells, 1955 in the eastern Arabian Sea

Viswambharan, Divya and Sreenath, K R and Jasmine, S and Joshi, K K and Sreeraj, C R and Mohan, Smruthu and Rohit, Prathibha (2021) Occurrence of the supposedly endemic Australian azooxanthellate coral Astrangia woodsi Wells, 1955 in the eastern Arabian Sea. Marine Biodiversity, 51. pp. 1-7. ISSN 1867-1624

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Abstract

The scleractinian coral family Rhizangiidae is known to have a cosmopolitan distribution. The members of this family are all azooxanthellate, and they are little studied due to their small size, difficult identification, and possible rare occurrence. Astrangia woodsi Wells, 1955 is one of five rhizangiid species that is supposed to be endemic to Australia. During an underwater survey on a rocky reef in the eastern Arabian Sea on the Indian coast, this species was discovered for the first time outside its previously known range. The present record indicates that the endemic status of the species needs to be reconsidered and suggests that its range may include a large part of the Indian Ocean.

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