Definition
The Persian/Arabian Gulf (herein referred to as the “Gulf”) is a subtropical, epicontinental sea situated roughly between 23°50′N and 29°52′N and is therewith home to some of the northernmost coral reefs on the western boundary of the Indo-Pacific (Kharku Island, Iran, at 29°20′N). The Gulf is 989 km long and 50 km wide and has an area of 251,000 km2. It has an average depth of 20 m and a maximum of 90 m. Its shallow nature, combined with the high-latitude geographical position and the presence of mountainous plateaus and deserts nearby, make the Gulf’s climate the most extreme endured by reef-building corals anywhere in the world. Nonetheless, the Gulf is home to about 40 species of scleractinian and 31 species of alcyonacean corals. The reef fauna represents a small but typical segment of that of the Indo-Pacific.
The distribution of coral reefs in the Gulf
Coral growth occurs virtually throughout the entire Gulf (Figure 1), with best development on offshore shoals but...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Abuzinada, A. H., and Krupp, F., 1994. The status of coastal and marine habitats two years after the Gulf War oil spill. Courier des Forschungsinstituts Senckenberg, 166, 80 pp.
Baker, A. C., Glynn, P. W., and Riegl, B., 2008. Climate change and coral reef bleaching: an ecological assessment of long-term impacts, recovery trends and future outlook. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 80, 435–471.
Basson, P., Burchard, J. H., Hardy, J. T., and Price, A., 1977. Biotopes of the Western Arabian Gulf. Dharhan, Saudi Arabia: Aramco Department of Loss Prevention and Environmental Affairs, 284 p.
Brewer, P. G., and Dyrssen, D., 1985. Chemical oceanography of the Persian Gulf. Progress in Oceanography, 14, 41–55.
Burt, J., Bartholomew, A., Usseglio, P., Bowman, A., and Sale, P., 2009. Are artificial reefs surrogates of natural habitats for corals and fish in Dubai, United Arab Emirates? Coral Reefs, doi: 10.1007/s00338–009–0500–1.
Claereboudt, M., 2006. Reef Corals and Coral Reefs of the Gulf of Oman. Muscat: Historical Association of Oman, Al Roya Press, 344 pp.
Coles, S.L., 2003. Coral species diversity and environmental factors in the Arabisn Gulf and the Gulf of Oman: a comparison to the Indo-Pacific region. Atoll Research Bulletin, 507, 1–19.
Coles, S. L., and Fadlallah, Y. H., 1991. Reef corals survival and mortality at low temperature in the Arabian Gulf: new species-specific lower temperature limits. Coral Reefs, 9, 231–237.
Downing, N., 1985. Coral reef communities in an extreme environment: the Northwest Arabian Gulf. Proceedings of the Fifth International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, Vol. 6, pp. 343–348.
Downing, N., 1988. The coral reefs and coral islands of Kuwait. Proceedings of the ROPME Workshop on Coastal Area Development. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No 90, ROPME Publ No GC-5/006.
Downing, N., and Roberts, C., 1993. Has the Gulf war affected coral reefs of the northwestern Gulf? Marine Pollution Bulletin, 27, 149–156.
Fadlallah, Y. H., Allen, K. W., and Estudillo, R. A., 1995. Mortality of shallow reef corals in the western Persian Gulf following aerial exposure in winter. Coral Reefs, 14, 99–107.
Gischler, E., and Lomando, A. J., 2005. Offshore sedimentary facies of a modern carbonate ramp, Kuwait, northwestern Arabian-Persian Gulf. Facies, 50, 443–462.
Hodgson, G., and Carpenter, K., 1995. Scleractinian corals of Kuwait with description of a new species. Pacific Science, 49, 227–246.
Hopley, D., Smithers, S. G., and Parnell, K. E., 2007. The Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef: Development, Diversity, and Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 520 pp.
IUCN/MEPA, 1992. Arabian Gulf. Saudi Arabia: An Assessment of Biotopes and Coastal Zone Management Requirements for the Arabian Gulf. IUCN and MEPA, 248 pp.
John, D. M., and George, J. D., 2003. Coral death and seasonal seawater temperature regime: their influence on the marine algae of Abu Dhabi (UAE) in the Arabian Gulf. In Chapman, R. O., Anderson, R. J., Vreeland, V. J., and Davison, I. R. (eds.), Seventeenth International Seaweed Symposium, Cape Town, 2001, pp. 341–348.
Korrubel, J., and Riegl, B., 1997. A new coral disease from the southern Arabian Gulf. Coral Reefs, 17, 22.
Kinsman, D. J. J., 1964. Reef coral tolerance of high temperatures and salinities. Nature, 202, 1280–1282.
Lardner, R. W., Al-Rabeh, A. H., Gunay, N., Hossain, M., Reynolds, R. M., and Lehr, W. J., 1993. Computation of the residual flow in the Gulf using the Mt. Mitchell data and the KFUPM/RI hydrodynamical models. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 27, 61–70.
Maghsoudlou, A., Araghi, P. E., Wilson, S., Taylor, O., and Medio, D. 2008. Status of coral reefs in the ROPME sea area (The Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea. In Wilkinson, C. (ed.), Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008, Twonsville: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, pp. 79–90.
Murty, T. S., and El-Sabh, M. I., 1984. Storm tracks, storm surges and sea state in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. UNESCO Reports in Marine Sciences, 28, 12–24.
Pirazzoli, P. A., Reyss, J.-L., Funtugne, M., Haghipour, A., Hilgers, A., Kasper, H. U., Nazari, H., Preusser, F., and Radtke, U., 2004. Quaternary coral-reef terraces from Kish and Qeshm Islands, Perisan Gulf: new radiometric ages and tectonic implications. Quaternary International, 120, 15–27.
Preusser, F., Radtke, U., Fontugne, M., Haghipour, A., Hilgers, A., Kasper, H. U., Nazari, H., and Pirazzoli, P. A., 2003. ESR dating of raised coral reefs from Kish Island, Persian Gulf. Quaternary Science Review, 22, 1317–1322.
Price, A. R. G., and Rezai, H., 1996. New echinoderm records for the Gulf including crown-of-thorn starfish, Acanthaster planci (Linnaeus), and their biogeographical significance. Fauna of Saudi Arabia, 15, 386–390.
Purkis, S. J., and Riegl, B., 2005. Spatial and temporal dynamics of Arabian Gulf coral assemblages quantified from remote-sensing and in situ monitoring data. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 287, 99–113.
Purser, B. H., 1973. Sedimentation around bathymetric highs in the Southern Persian Gulf. In Purser, B. H. (ed.), The Persian Gulf Holocene Carbonate Sedimentation and Diagenesis in a Shallow Epicontinental Sea, New York: Springer, 471 p.
Reynolds, M., 1993. Physical oceanography of the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman: results from the Mt Mitchell expedition. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 27, 35–59.
Riegl, B., 1999. Corals in a non-reef setting in the southern Persian Gulf (Dubai, UAE): fauna and community structure in response to recurring mass mortality. Coral Reefs, 18, 63–73.
Riegl, B., 2002. Effects of the 1996 and 1998 positive sea surface temperature anomalies on corals, coral diseases and fish in the Arabian Gulf (Dubai). Marine Biology, 140, 29–40.
Riegl, B., 2003. Climate change and coral reefs: different effects in two high-latitude areas (Arabian Gulf, South Africa). Coral Reefs, 22, 433–446.
Riegl, B., and Purkis, S. J., 2009. Model of coral population response to accelerated bleaching and mass mortality in a changing climate. Ecological Modelling, 220, 192–208.
Samimi Namin, K., and van Ofwegen, L. D., 2009. Some shallow water octocorals (Coelenterata: Anthozoa) of the Persian Gulf. Zootaxa, 2058, 1–52.
Sheppard, C. R. C., and Sheppard, A. L. S., 1991. Corals and coral communities of Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia, 12, 170 pp.
Sheppard, C. R. C., Price, A. R. G., and Roberts, C. M., 1992. Marine ecology of the Arabian region; Patterns and processes in extreme tropical environments. London: Academic.
Sheppard, C. R. C., 1993. Physical environment of the Gulf relevant to marine pollution: an overview. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 27, 3–8.
Shinn, E. A., 1976. Coral reef recovery in Florida and the Persian Gulf. Environmental Geology, 1, 241–254.
Shokri, M. R., Haeri-Ardakani, O., and Abdollahi, P., 2000. Coral reef resources of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Reef Encounter, 27, 26–29.
Subba Rao, D. V., and Al-Yamani, F., 2000. The Arabian Gulf. In Sheppard, C. R. C. (ed.), Seas at the Millenium: An Environmental Evaluation. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 1–16.
Teller, J. T., Glennie, K. W., Lancaster, N., and Singhvi, A. K., 2000. Calcareous dunes of the Unite Arab Emirates and Noah’s Flood: the postglacial reflooding of the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. Quaternary International, 68, 297–308.
Uchupi, E., Swift, S. A., and Ross, D. A. (1996). Gas venting and late Quarternary sedimentation in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. Marine Geology, 129, 237–269.
Veron, J. E. N., 2000. Corals of the world. 3 volumes. Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, 463 pp, 429 pp, 490 pp.
Vogt, H., 1996. Investigations on coral reefs in the Jubail wildlife sanctuary using under water video recordings and digital image analysis. In Krupp, F., Abuzinada, A. H., and Nader, I. A. (eds.), A Marine Wildlife Sanctuary for the Persian Gulf. Frankfurt a.m.: NCWCD Riyadh and Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, pp. 302–327.
Wallace, C. C., 1999. Staghorn corals of the world. A revision of the coral genus Acropora (Scleractinia; Astrocoeniina; Acroporida) worldwide, with emphasis on morphology, phylogeny and biogeography. CSIRO Publishing, 421 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Riegl, B., Purkis, S. (2011). Persian/Arabian Gulf Coral Reefs. In: Hopley, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_123
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_123
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2638-5
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2639-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences