Diversity of hard coral in Iranian waters of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea

The Persian Gulf has a different environment for corals compared to other parts of the world. 17 coral islands and some coastal areas in the northern part of the Persian Gulf as well as Chabahar Bay in the Oman Sea are the most important coral regions of Iran. The inaccessibility of coral islands and the dispersion of research have led to inaccurate information on the number of coral reef species identified. In this research, by field study of some coral regions such as Shidvar, Farsi, Kharg, Khargo, Hindurabi and Nayband, as well as collecting studies conducted by other researchers in other coral regions, thorough information about the diversity of coral species identified in the Persian Gulf have been presented. According to studies, the number of species of coral reefs identified in the Persian Gulf waters is 96 species, which by calculating 6 species of coral reefs that are reported only from Chabahar Bay, brings the number of species identified in Iranian waters to 102 species. The identified species are from 13 families and 40 genera, among which, Merulinidae and Acroporidae each with 29 and 23 species, respectively, have the highest diversity in terms of number of species. After these two families, Poritidae with 11 species has more diversity than other families. Among the studied islands, Larak Island has the highest number of species.