Mesophotic mushroom coral (Fungiidae) beds form distinctive off-reef habitats in Indo-Pacific coral reef ecosystems. We mapped a large mushroom coral bed at Ningaloo Reef off north-western Australia. The 82-hectare (2700 m by 680 m) bed was comprised of Cycloseris distorta and C. fragilis , with densities at some sites more than 1100 m −2 (mean 774 m −2 ) and an estimated population of 653 million individuals making it the lar...

Over the last two decades, there has been an explosion of oceanographic data from a broad array of ocean observing platforms, as well as dramatic improvements in the ability of ocean models to resolve processes across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Ocean researchers’ ability to leverage computing tools and resources are key to effectively understanding and monitoring our ocean, the marine ecosystems it supports, and the...

The short spined crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster brevispinus inhabits deeper water soft bottom habitats, in contrast to the more infamous Indo-Pacific Acanthaster species complex of which population outbreaks have been responsible for widespread coral mortality throughout the Indo-West Pacific region. Acanthaster brevispinus has not previously been regarded as a threat to corals or coral reefs. Here, we report A. brevispi...

We report new field, petrological and isotopic data and interpretations from one of New Zealand’s major basement geological boundaries, the contact between the east side of the Median Batholith (formerly Median Tectonic Zone) and the allochthonous Mesozoic terranes of the Eastern Province. In the Nelson and Hollyford–Eglinton areas this contact is a Cenozoic fault, the Median Tectonic Line of earlier workers. However, in the L...