Species identification was a difficult task for me to complete. My memory is not the best but by this point in my life, I know what I need to do in order to overcome that. The fish were fairly simple, for me it helped finding the tiniest difference, even if it doesn’t appear all the time or is as noticeable, and that eventually helps me be able to identify similar species even without the slightest difference. It also helped that we used common names for these. Coral on the other hand, was a little harder. In the Caribbean, their reefs are so diverse, and a lot of the coral looks the same or slightly similar to a sponge! Depending on the lighting, the angle of viewing, how big the coral is, all these factors really make it tough to make them out. To help my memory and recognition, silly little pneumonic devices helped a lot in my studies. As an example, we saw so many Montastrea cavernosa, secretly my favorite coral. I am able to mostly identify them but to me, the polyps look like little Bundt cakes. To help me remember the appearance and the name, I came up with the pneumonic device of: monstrous Bundt cakes in caverns. Genus’s that were little harder to tell apart for me were Siderastrea and Solenastrea. With these picking apart the slightest differences as well pneumonic devices helped in learning them. For example, Siderastrea are smoother and siderea is usually bigger than radians. Solenastrea are lumpier and hyades have bigger polyps than bournoni. Something that helped me remember that hyades has bigger polyps than bournoni is that hyades is a cluster of stars so they would “shine bigger” than bournoni, a single bodied star. I also had trouble identifying the difference between Colpophyllia natans, Diploria labirynthiformis, and Pseudodiploria strigosa, but once I could recognize the difference in the valleys, they were fairly easy to identify. Overall, I still think I have a lot more to learn but still think I’ve come pretty fair! Attached are some pictures I took of common coral we saw such as Porites porites, Montastrea cavernosa, Pseudodiploria strigose, Siderastrea siderea, Diploria labrythnaformis, and Colpophylia natans.
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AuthorsThe authors of this blog are students enrolled in Tropical Marine Ecology and Conservation, field courses run in the Caribbean by the University of South Florida. During these courses, students learn scientific diving techniques over a 10-14 day period and carry out research and monitoring of coral reefs at various sites. Many of these courses are done in partnership with local environmental organizations, like the Union Island Environmental Alliance and the Soufriere Marine Management Association. In this blog, students will document their activities and how they relate to course material. Archives
June 2023
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