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Abstract
Sixteen species of ahermatypic scleractinian corals have been collected from two submarine caves in Hong Kong. These are Ballanophyllia eguchii, B. ponderosa, Dendrophyllia arbuscula, D. ehrenbergiana, D. coccinea, D. compressa, D. gracilis, Turbastrea coccinea, T. faulkneri, T. diaphana, T. sibogae, T. turbinata, Cyathellia axillaris, Culicia japonica, C. rubeola and Oulangia stokesiana. Eleven of the species are new records for Hong Kong. This study has thus obtained the most diverse collection of ahermatypic corals from Hong Kong hitherto. None of the corals is a cave endemic, however, all being widely distributed in the Indo‐West Pacific. Nevertheless, such cave habitats may be locally important for ahermatypic corals and it is recommended that they be designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and possibly receive wider protection under the Marine Parks Ordinance (1995).
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank expedition divers, including Graham Blackmore, Paul Clark and Nick Evans for assisting with specimen collection. Dr KF Leung kindly provided Figure .