Organismos de los arrecifes coralinos de Costa Rica: Descripción, distribución geográfica e historia natural de los corales zooxantelados (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) del Pacífico

Abstract

Twenty two species of zooxanthellate scleractinian corals from the Pacific of Costa Rica are described and illustrated with macrophotographs. Keys to the genera and species are included. Their geographic distributions in Costa Rica and world-wide are noted, as well as aspects of the natural history of the species. Sixteen species have wide distributions, from the Red Sea or Indian Ocean to the Pacific coast of America, two species are endemic to the eastern Pacific, four species are found only in the Pacific Ocean; there are no species in common with the Caribbean-Atlantic. Two species, Leptoseris scabra and Pavona xarifea, are new records for the eastern Pacific.