Biodiversitas Genus Acropora (Ordo Scleractinia) di Kepulauan Spermonde.Coral Triangle Indonesia

The genus Acropora is dominant in the hard coral community structure around the Indo-Pacific reefs and has the highest number of species in the Coral Triangle region of Indonesia. Recently new species of hard corals (Order Scleractinia) were recorded in Indonesian, Genus Acropora had been identified about 114 species in the world, where 91 species in Indonesia, 59 species among them recorded in Sulawesi, 51 species in Spermonde Archipelago. This research reveals to biodiversity corals species from genus Acropora as a revision of early identified corals Acropora from Spermonde Archipelago. Specimens were collected from three islands that are in the middle zone restricted by Barrang Lompo Island, Bone Tambu Island, and Kodingareng Keke Island. As much as 104 specimen of hard corals had been collected then soaked in hypochlorite solution, washed and dried then labeled. Specimens were identified based on morphology of corallum, axial, radial corallite, and coenesteum. This research had indetified about 47 species from 16 groups of Acropora. There are six species of Acropora added that never been recorded were A. prostrata, A. nobilis, A. akajimensis, A. rosaria, and A. bifurcata. The number of Acropora species from the Spermonde Islands is close to the number of Acropora species in Sulawesi, but slightly different for some species. The discovery of coral species from the regional genus Sulawesi as part of the higher species number the Scleractinian Corals in the Coral Triangle region, a hotspot of marine diversity in the world .