Millepora platyphylla (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) range extended back to the Eastern Pacific, thanks to a new record from Clipperton Atoll

E. Boissin (1, 2) , C. Pogoreutz (3) , A. Pey (4) , N. Gravier-Bonnet (5) , S. Planes (1, 2)

1 CRIOBE - Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l'environnement
2 LabEX CORAIL - Laboratoire d'Excellence CORAIL
3 Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering
4 COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019)
5 ENTROPIE [Réunion] - Ecologie marine tropicale dans les Océans Pacifique et Indien

The fire coral Millepora platyphylla Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1834 (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) has a widespread Indo-Pacific distribution observed from the surface to 40 m (Razak & Hoeksema 2003). However, its extirpation from the East Pacific (Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama) was documented after the 1982-1983 bleaching event (Glynn & Weerdt 1991). Here, we report the discovery of 5 colonies of M. platyphylla from the eastern Pacific, specifically at Clipperton Atoll, during the TARA Pacific expedition (www.taraexpeditions.org).

Keywords: Coelenterata; Cnidaria; Hydrozoa

Domains: Environmental Sciences; Biodiversity and Ecology

E. Boissin, C. Pogoreutz, A. Pey, N. Gravier-Bonnet, S. Planes. Millepora platyphylla (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) range extended back to the Eastern Pacific, thanks to a new record from Clipperton Atoll. Zootaxa, 2019, 4668 (4), pp.599-600. ⟨10.11646/zootaxa.4668.4.11⟩. ⟨hal-02431766⟩