IMIS - Marine Onderzoeksgroepen

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.