Molecular phylogeny of some coral species from the Persian Gulf.

As evolutionary relationships among some coral species still remain unclear, studies on unstudied area such as the Persian Gulf (PG), as part of the western Indo-Pacific, may reveal a better understanding of phylogenetic positions and relationships of corals. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationships of eight common coral species (Favites pentagona, Platygyra daedalea, Cyphastrea microphthalma, Siderastrea savignyana, Pavona decussata, Pavona cactus, Goniopora columna, and Goniopora djiboutiensis) collected from two Iranian Islands were compared with the congeneric sequences from the Indo-Pacific (IP) using rDNA region. The result shows that some coral species which were hitherto considered as representatives of widespread species from IP are related to distinct lineages.

The Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) of Abu-Musa and Sirri Islands, Persian Gulf.

There are many islands in the Iranian waters, but little is known about their coral species. This is a first attempt to describe and illustrate the coral species occurring in Abu-Musa and Sirri Islands. Overall, 26 species belonging to 9 families are reported, and three unidentified species and two species are added to coral communities of Iran.