Coral communities of barrier reefs of Vietnam

The composition and spatial distribution of the coral communities of the barrier reefs of Jiang Bo and of Re Island were described in detail for the first time for Vietnamese waters. Their comparability to the ribbon reefs of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and to the barrier reefs of the Philippines and Indian Ocean was revealed by morphological parameters, species diversity and zonal distribution. Their geomorphological status, the presence of fore reef, epi-reef and back reef complexes with their specific composition of flora and fauna, and an obligatory lagoon separating the reef from fringing inshore reefs, enabled the attribution of the surveyed reefs to the barrier type of reef.