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Cited by 228Coral and Marine Ecosystems StudiesMarine Biology and Ecology ResearchMarine Ecology and Invasive Species

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The Diversity and Biogeography of Western Indian Ocean Reef-Building Corals

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Obura, David·2012·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0045013PMC PMC3446983
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Abstract

This study assesses the biogeographic classification of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) on the basis of the species diversity and distribution of reef-building corals. Twenty one locations were sampled between 2002 and 2011. Presence/absence of scleractinian corals was noted on SCUBA, with the aid of underwater digital photographs and reference publications for species identification. Sampling effort varied from 7 to 37 samples per location, with 15 to 45 minutes per dive allocated to species observations, depending on the logistics on each trip. Species presence/absence was analyzed using the Bray-Curtis similarity coefficient, followed by cluster analysis and multi-dimensional scaling. Total (asymptotic) species number per location was estimated using the Michaelis-Menten equation. Three hundred and sixty nine coral species were named with stable identifications and used for analysis. At the location level, estimated maximum species richness ranged from 297 (Nacala, Mozambique) to 174 (Farquhar, Seychelles). Locations in the northern Mozambique Channel had the highest diversity and similarity, forming a core region defined by its unique oceanography of variable meso-scale eddies that confer high connectivity within this region. A distinction between mainland and island fauna was not found; instead, diversity decreased radially from the northern Mozambique Channel. The Chagos archipelago was closely related to the northern Mozambique Channel region, and analysis of hard coral data in the IUCN Red List found Chagos to be more closely related to the WIO than to the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka. Diversity patterns were consistent with primary oceanographic drivers in the WIO, reflecting inflow of the South Equatorial Current, maintenance of high diversity in the northern Mozambique Channel, and export from this central region to the north and south, and to the Seychelles and Mascarene islands.

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Figures

Figure 1 The Western Indian Ocean, defined by the East African coast and the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Cargados Carajos banks of the Mascarene Plateau. The principal currents that define the region are coded by the circled letters A–E (see Table 1). Bathymetric contours were selected to illustrate the main plateau and bank features, at 60, 200 and 1000 m depth.
Figure 1 The Western Indian Ocean, defined by the East African coast and the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Cargados Carajos banks of the Mascarene Plateau. The principal currents that define the region are coded by the circled letters A–E (see Table 1). Bathymetric contours were selected to illustrate the main plateau and bank features, at 60, 200 and 1000 m depth.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 Ecoregions and provinces of the Western Indo-Pacific Realm, excluding the Andaman Seas in the East. a) Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) [36] provinces and ecoregions (abbreviations and numbers in circles), and sample locations (numbers, see Table 2). MEOW province and ecoregion codes (see Table 2 and fig. 4): Province - Red Sea/Gulf of Aden (RSGA): ecoregions - North Central Red Sea (87), Southern Red Sea (88), Gulf of Aden (89, GA); Province - Somali-Arabian Seas (SAS): ecoregions - Persian (90), Oman (91), West Arabian Sea (92), Central Somali (93); Province - Western Indian Ocean (WIO): ecoregions - North Monsoon Current (94, Mons), East African Coral Coast (95, EAC), Seychelles (96, Sey), Cargados/Tromelin (97, Car), Mascarene Islands (98, Mas), Southeast Madagascar (99), West & North Madagascar (100, W&NM), Sofala (101), Delagoa (102); Province - West & South India (WSI): ecoregions - West India (103), South India/Sri Lanka (104); Province - Central Indian Ocean (CIO): ecoregions - Maldives (105), Chagos (106). The star shows the position of Tromelin Island (France). b) adjustments to the MEOW ecoregions and provinces suggested by this study (see Table 4) and discussion. A possible east-west split in the southern Mozambique Channel is shown by a dotted line.
Figure 2 Ecoregions and provinces of the Western Indo-Pacific Realm, excluding the Andaman Seas in the East. a) Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) [36] provinces and ecoregions (abbreviations and numbers in circles), and sample locations (numbers, see Table 2). MEOW province and ecoregion codes (see Table 2 and fig. 4): Province - Red Sea/Gulf of Aden (RSGA): ecoregions - North Central Red Sea (87), Southern Red Sea (88), Gulf of Aden (89, GA); Province - Somali-Arabian Seas (SAS): ecoregions - Persian (90), Oman (91), West Arabian Sea (92), Central Somali (93); Province - Western Indian Ocean (WIO): ecoregions - North Monsoon Current (94, Mons), East African Coral Coast (95, EAC), Seychelles (96, Sey), Cargados/Tromelin (97, Car), Mascarene Islands (98, Mas), Southeast Madagascar (99), West & North Madagascar (100, W&NM), Sofala (101), Delagoa (102); Province - West & South India (WSI): ecoregions - West India (103), South India/Sri Lanka (104); Province - Central Indian Ocean (CIO): ecoregions - Maldives (105), Chagos (106). The star shows the position of Tromelin Island (France). b) adjustments to the MEOW ecoregions and provinces suggested by this study (see Table 4) and discussion. A possible east-west split in the southern Mozambique Channel is shown by a dotted line.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 3 Cluster analysis of coral species from the IUCN Red List of Threatened species by MEOW provinces and ecoregions. a) All provinces in the tropical Indo-Pacific coded by Realm, and b) ecoregions within the West Indo-Pacific Realm, excluding the Andaman Seas, coded by province (see caption to fig. 2 for full province names). Significant groupings shown as thin red lines: a) ANOSIM, R = 0.609, p<0.001; b) ANOSIM R = 0.917, p<0.01; Primer v 6.0.
Figure 3 Cluster analysis of coral species from the IUCN Red List of Threatened species by MEOW provinces and ecoregions. a) All provinces in the tropical Indo-Pacific coded by Realm, and b) ecoregions within the West Indo-Pacific Realm, excluding the Andaman Seas, coded by province (see caption to fig. 2 for full province names). Significant groupings shown as thin red lines: a) ANOSIM, R = 0.609, p<0.001; b) ANOSIM R = 0.917, p<0.01; Primer v 6.0.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 4 Cluster analysis of coral species presence/absence for study locations in the Western Indian Ocean. Study locations are listed in Table 2 and coded by MEOW ecoregion. Significant clusters are joined by thin red lines (ANOSIM R = 0.837, p<0.001).
Figure 4 Cluster analysis of coral species presence/absence for study locations in the Western Indian Ocean. Study locations are listed in Table 2 and coded by MEOW ecoregion. Significant clusters are joined by thin red lines (ANOSIM R = 0.837, p<0.001).CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 5 Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) bi-plot of locations in the Western Indian Ocean excluding the outliers from Djibouti to Reunion island (from fig. 4 ). The outliers were excluded to more clearly represent relationships among the more highly related locations. Significant groups of locations (ANOSIM R = 0.837, p<0.001) coded as Northern Mozambique Channel (NMC), Northern Mozambique Channel group b (NMCb), islands in the northern Mozambique Channel and western Seychelles (Isl) and Northern Monsoon current (Mons). Similarity contours are shown at 75, 80 and 85% similarity.
Figure 5 Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) bi-plot of locations in the Western Indian Ocean excluding the outliers from Djibouti to Reunion island (from fig. 4 ). The outliers were excluded to more clearly represent relationships among the more highly related locations. Significant groups of locations (ANOSIM R = 0.837, p<0.001) coded as Northern Mozambique Channel (NMC), Northern Mozambique Channel group b (NMCb), islands in the northern Mozambique Channel and western Seychelles (Isl) and Northern Monsoon current (Mons). Similarity contours are shown at 75, 80 and 85% similarity.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 6 Estimated maximum species richness of reef-building corals at survey locations in the Western Indian Ocean, ordered by decreasing diversity. The graph shows Smax, derived from the Michaelis-Menten regression equation on presence/absence from a pool of 369 coral species across all locations, and the number of species sampled. Symbols against the x axis correspond to the significant cluster symbols from fig. 5.
Figure 6 Estimated maximum species richness of reef-building corals at survey locations in the Western Indian Ocean, ordered by decreasing diversity. The graph shows Smax, derived from the Michaelis-Menten regression equation on presence/absence from a pool of 369 coral species across all locations, and the number of species sampled. Symbols against the x axis correspond to the significant cluster symbols from fig. 5.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 7 Comparison of coral species richness for areas in the Western Indian Ocean, between this study and Sheppard [18]. Reported species richness is from [18] and estimated asymptotic number of species (Smax) is from this study. Maximum Smax is shown where there were multiple locations from this study corresponding to areas in [18].
Figure 7 Comparison of coral species richness for areas in the Western Indian Ocean, between this study and Sheppard [18]. Reported species richness is from [18] and estimated asymptotic number of species (Smax) is from this study. Maximum Smax is shown where there were multiple locations from this study corresponding to areas in [18].CC BY · PubMed Central

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [5]Rosen BR (1971) The distribution of reef coral genera in the Indian Ocean. In: Stoddart DR, Yonge CM (eds) Regional Variation in Indian Ocean. Coral Reefs Symp Zool Soc London no 28 Academic Press pp 263–299.
  2. [47]Lieske E, Myers R (1996) Coral reef fishes of the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean. 2nd edition Collins ISBN0 00 219974 2.
  3. [49]Mortimer JA, Day M, Broderick D (2002) Sea turtle populations of the Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. In: Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. Mosier A, Foley A, Brost B (compilers) NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS SEFSC-477: 47–49.
  4. [86]Wells JW (1956) Scleractinia. In: Moore RC (ed) Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Geological Society of America and Univ. Kansas Press. F:328–440.
  5. [93]Colwell R, Coddington J (1994) Estimating species richness. Phil Trans Royal Soc of London (B) 345: 101– 118. 7972351

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Metadata

Authors
Obura, D.
Affiliations
Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (KE)
Corresponding author
Obura, David
ORCID
Obura, David
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2012-09-19
Volume
7
Issue
9
Pages
e45013
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0045013
PMC
PMC3446983
OpenAlex
W1996588356
Cited by
228
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 1
FWCI
10.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Greater South Information System
Funders
  • National Geographic Society
  • Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine Biology and Ecology Research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
Keywords
reef-building corals, scleractinian corals, coral species diversity, biogeography, Western Indian Ocean, Mozambique Channel, Chagos Archipelago, oceanographic drivers, South Equatorial Current
MeSH terms
Animals, Data Collection, Species Specificity, Water Movements, Cluster Analysis, Indian Ocean, Anthozoa, Biodiversity, Coral Reefs, Phylogeography

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