A coral species new to the main Hawaiian Islands has been discovered in West Hawaii by a research team of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Aquatic Resources divers, under the leadership of senior biologist Dr. Bill Walsh. While doing reconnaissance SCUBA dives along the Kona coast of the Island of Hawaii, the dive team came across a large number of coral colonies, which none of the researchers had ever seen before. 
These robust finger-like colonies didn’t even look like they were related to any other corals in the vicinity of the main islands. After returning the next day and photographically documenting the colonies, the coral was tentatively identified as Acropora gemmifera. Not only is this the first record of Acropora gemmifera in the main Hawaiian Islands, it’s the first record of any Acropora species occurring around the island of Hawaii. Read more here!… More:
The post Unusual Corals Discovered off the Big Island of Hawaii appeared first on reefs.com.