Coral growth rates

[Ed Green]

Dear All

Over the last few months the World Conservation Monitoring Centre has been
analysing CITES data to quantify the (legal) global trade in scleractinian
corals. This has been carried out at genus level (although recorded as species
the difficulties associated with identification makes species data unrelaible).
We have data on the average sizes of live and dead corals traded under CITES
permits and wish to estimate the age of the these corals. Twenty genera account
for 90% of the global trade in coral but after an extensive literature search we
have been unable to find growth rates for species in the following genera: 

Heliopora 
Catalaphyllia 
Tubipora 
Trachyphyllia 
Heliofungia 

If anyone knows of references or has information on growth rates in these five
genera please would they contact Ed Green at the address below? Many thanks,



Dr. Edmund Green
Head, Marine and Coastal Programme
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
219 Huntingdon Road
Cambridge
CB3 0DL
United Kingdom
Tel: (44) 1223 277314
Fax: (44) 1223 277136
http://www.wcmc.org.uk:80/marine/