FIRST RECORD OF THE INDO‐PACIFIC REEF CORAL GENUS ISOPORA IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION: TWO NEW SPECIES FROM THE NEOGENE OF CURAÇAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

Abstract: The coral genus Isopora , a sister group of the modern dominant Acropora until now only known from the Pliocene to Recent of the Indo‐Pacific, is recorded in the Caribbean for the first time. Two new species, Isopora ginsburgi and Isopora curacaoensis, are described from the Neogene Seroe Domi Formation of Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Study of large collections made systematically through the sequence indicates that Isopora first occurred in the Caribbean during the Mio–Pliocene, at approximately the same time as the origination of many modern Caribbean reef coral dominants includi... Mehr ...