Diversity in the coral reef algal flora in French Polynesia

The marine algal flora of French Polynesia is relatively impoverished compared with the known flora of the western Pacific, but perhaps richer than that known from the tropical islands of the eastern Pacific. Some pantropical genera are poorly represented and others are absent in these islands, whose algal floras have only recently been systematically studied. Many families of algae are two to four times less rich in species numbers than the same families recorded from the western Pacific. Comparisons made within island groups in French Polynesia show a decrease in species number in comparison to the flora of Moorea, the best collected of all of these areas. Continued collections are being made that will affect future conclusions on diversity and species richness as found between ca. 10 to 24 degree S latitude in French Polynesia.