Clipperton: La flore marine du complexe récifal et quelques aspects de la biodiversité et de la géomorphologie de l’île

Abstract

The marine flora of the reef flats and outer slopes of Clipperton were studied by SCUBA from the surface down to a depth of 60m and reef walks on 18 sites distributed around the island. About 100 samples of algae have been collected and pressed as herbarium specimens which will be deposited at the MNHN in Paris. Sixty one species have been identified, increasing the number of species recorded from Clipperton to 83 .The results of morphological analyses confirm that the algal flora of Clipperton belongs to the Indo-Pacific biogeographical area with 75% of the species widely distributed in the West and Central Pacific and 4% species from the East Pacific side. About 14% of the species are not yet identified and could be species new science or endemic