Source: The Herald Sun [1]
July 28, 2010

AN Australian scientist has discovered what could be the world's rarest coral in the remote North Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific elkhorn coral was found during underwater surveys at Arno atoll, in the Marshall Islands, by coral researcher Dr Zoe Richards of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS).

The coral bears a close physical resemblance to the critically endangered and fast-vanishing elkhorn coral, or Acropora palmata, of the Atlantic Ocean.

But genetic analysis has shown it to be a different species.

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