Deep-water azooxanthellate Scleractinia from Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna Islands

Description

 A total of 134 Recent species of azooxanthellate Scleractinia are reported from the Vanuatu (116 species) and Wallis and Futuna (83 species) Archipelagos, all but one being new records for the region of the tropical central Pacific. The newly reported specimens originate primarily from the MUSORSTUM 7 and 8 expeditions, including approximately 4400 specimens from 227 stations, most of these deeper than 100 m.
Within the tropical central Pacific these corals show a strong affinity with those from the ridges and islands north of New Zealand (56 species) and a lessor relationship with the Hawaiian Island fauna (24 species). Other regions in the central Pacific are too poorly know for comparison. Beyond the tropical central Pacific, the Vanuatu/Wallis and Futuna fauna is part of the larger Indo-Polynesian province, sharing 95 (71%) of its species with the tropical western Pacific and 62 species (46%) with the Indian Ocean. Only seven species are found in common with the tropical eastern Pacific and 11 with the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, 43 species from the Vanuatu/Wallis and Futuna Archipelagos are also known from temperate Japan (exclusive of the Ryukyu Islands) and 32 from temperate New Zealand and southern Australia.