Al Licuanan with a newly discovered coral species (Al Licuanan)

Led by Dr Al Licuanan, this sub-project seeks to provide expert identification and reference services for the CRTR Program at Bolinao Marine Laboratory; initiate the improvement of the collections at the Bolinao Marine Laboratory and the rest of the Marine Science Institute; develop a virtual (Internet-based) museum of photographs and descriptions of these collections; and develop field guides in support of the coral research at Bolinao Marine Laboratory.

Progress to date includes:

• The on-line map library of Philippine corals has been updated to include information on coral distribution, species lists, virtual museum, taxonomic guides and featured species. This is available at the coenoMAP website
• A Field Guide to the Bubble Corals of the Philippines has been developed. The guide is being used by non-scientific divers who are trained as part of this project to map the distributions of these corals in the Philippines.
• An electronic guide to the Corals of Northwestern Luzon, Philippines is currently been completed and will be released in late 2009.
• Training workshops on coral taxonomy continue to be held to high demand.