The South China Sea in the Central Indo-Pacific is a large marine region that spans an area of more than 3 million km2 bounded by the coastlines of ten Asian nation states and contains numerous small islands. Although it abuts the western border of the Coral Triangle, the designated centre of maximum marine biodiversity, the South China Sea has received much less scientific and conservation attention. In particular, a consolidated estimate of the region’s scleractinian reef coral diversity has yet to emerge. To address this issue, we assemble a comprehensive species distribution data set that comprises 16 reef areas spread across the entire South China Sea. Despite containing less than 17 % of the reef area as compared to the Coral Triangle, this region hosts 571 known species of reef corals, a richness that is comparable to the Coral Triangle’s based on a standardised nomenclatural scheme. Similarity profile analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling demonstrate that most areas are compositionally distinct from one another and are structured according to latitude but not longitude. More broadly, this study underscores the remarkable and unexpected diversity of reef corals in the South China Sea.

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Extraordinary diversity of reef corals in the South China Sea

Hong Kong is famous as a bustling harbour and financial centre, with a dense burgeoning population impacting its coastal environment. Yet, away from the skyscrapers and the pressures of anthropogenic influence, Hong Kong supports a rich marine biodiversity, including corals and mangrove communities. Despite having a small marine area (1651 km2), a total of 5943 marine species have been recorded in Hong Kong waters. Most of these species were reported during the 1980s and 1990s, but new species continue to be discovered, and ~6500 species are estimated. Even though Hong Kong’s marine area is only ~0.03 % of that of China, the number of marine species recorded in Hong Kong already accounts for ~26 % of the total recorded in China. Hong Kong also contributes to a considerable amount (>30 %) of the species records for several taxa including amphipods, cephalopods, polychaetes and fish in the South China Sea, and ~29 % of the hermit crab species in the largest global marine species database, the World Register of Marine Species. These findings demonstrate the rich marine biota found in Hong Kong, which probably reflects Hong Kong’s location within the fringes of the world’s marine biodiversity hotspot.

Hong Kong’s rich marine biodiversity: the unseen wealth of South China’s megalopolis

The South China Sea (SCS) is of particular promise for biodiversity researchers globally Covering some three million square kilometers of sea and with over 200 coral islets, the SCS stretches from the equator near Singapore to the Tropic of Cancer crossing the Taiwan Strait While most of SCS consists of the Sunda Shelf which is less than 200 metres in depth, the northern part includes the South China Sea Basin, which in some areas are more than 5000 metres deep Indeed, the SCS encompasses a tremendous diversity of natural ecosystems, ranging from coral reefs, rocky and sandy shores, mangroves, estuaries and mudflats to open waters and abyssal habitats, and are home to hundreds of thousands of species of organisms Its waters wash the shores of 12 countries, and the maritime coasts of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (all of which belong to ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations), People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are all connected via the SCS Not withstanding political, economic and social differences, the people in these countries depend upon the biological resources of the SCS in no small terms

The state of marine biodiversity in the south china sea

A field sampling was conducted before the onset of the northeasterly monsoon to investigate the copepod community composition during the monsoon transition period at the northern coast of Taiwan (East China Sea). In total, 22 major mesozooplankton taxa were found, with the Calanoida (relative abundance: 66.36%) and Chaetognatha (9.44%) being the most abundant. Mesozooplankton densities ranged between 226.91 and 2162.84 individuals m−3 (mean ± SD: 744.01 ± 631.5 individuals m−3). A total of 49 copepod species were identified, belonging to 4 orders, 19 families, and 30 genera. The most abundant species were: Temora turbinata (23.50%), Undinula vulgaris (17.92%), and Acrocalanus gibber (14.73%). The chaetognath Flaccisagitta enflata occurred at all 8 sampling stations, providing a 95% portion of the overall chaetognath contribution. Amphipoda were abundant at stations 4 and 5, with Hyperioides sibaginis and Lestigonus bengalensis being dominant, and comprising about 50% of all amphipods. Chaetognath abundance showed a significantly negative correlation with salinity (r = 0.77, p = 0.027), whereas mesozooplankton group numbers had a significantly positive correlation with salinity (r = 0.71, p = 0.048). Densities of four copepod species (Calanus sinicus, Calocalanus pavo, Calanopia elliptica and Labidocera acuta) showed a significantly negative correlation with seawater temperature. Communities of mesozooplankton and copepods of northern Taiwan varied spatially with the distance to land. The results of this study provide evidence for the presence of C. sinicus in the coastal area of northern Taiwan during the early northeast monsoon transition period in September.

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Mesozooplankton and copepod community structures in the southern East China Sea: the status during the monsoonal transition period in September

An overview is presented of 49 species of alien and cryptogenic marine and estuarine crustaceans established along the Atlantic coast of Europe. The alien species include Diplostraca (1 species), Ostracoda (1), Copepoda (10), Cirripedia (10), Mysidacea (1), Amphipoda (12), Tanaidacea (1), Isopoda (4), and Decapoda (9). The established introductions are primarily from Indo-Pacific, Atlantic America and Mediterranean-Ponto-Caspian regions, and the primary vectors that have brought these species to Europe are ballast water, ship fouling and mariculture activity.

Checklist of Cryptogenic and Alien Crustacea of the European Atlantic Coast

The Amphipoda of the South China Sea are catalogued. Based on the literature, 48 families, 113 genera and 272 species are recorded. Gammaridean amphipods have effectively been studied from only three areas - Hong Kong, several sites in Vietnam and several sites in the Philippines. There are additional small study sites in Singapore and the Spratly Islands. Based on these studies 31 gammaridean families, 67 genera and 153 species have been recorded, the vast majority of these taxa come from the Central-western and North-western South China Sea. In nearly all recorded families the genera and species appear to be poorly represented. By comparison Ruffo (1982; 1989; 1993) has reported 51 families, 157 genera and 450 species of gammaridean and caprellidean amphipods from the Mediterranean Sea. Important habitats for amphipods such as algal forests, seagrass meadows and coral reefs have not been studied in the South China Sea. No caprellidean or ingolfiellidean amllhipods have been reported. Hyperiidean amphipods appear to be more widely collected and studied (17 hyperiidean families, 46 genera and 119 species). More than half of all hyperiidean families have been reported from this area. Much work needs to be done in the South China Sea before amphipod biodiversity can be properly assessed and understood.

J. K. Lowry

Papers

Taxonomic status of amphipod crustaceans in the south china sea with a checklist of known species