Brunei is another relatively small country located on the north coast of Borneo between Sarawak and Sabah. Much of the country inland remains forested and several rivers flow into the South China Sea. On the Sunda Shelf offshore the waters remain relatively shallow. There are no fringing reefs on the mainland, but the development around Pelong Rocks and Pulau Punyit may be considered fringing reefs. The majority of coral growth occurs on sub-littoral patch reefs and coral communities offshore, and some 185 scleractinian corals from 71 genera have been recorded.
Cambodia
Cambodia has only a relatively short coastline facing the Gulf of Thailand, though there are several small islands in the adjacent waters. There is very little material available describing the coral reefs off this coastline, but there are known to be coral communities on the mainland coast and some fringing reef structures around the islands. Some 70 hard corals have been recorded at the Koh Tang island group and in a few places coral cover is reported to reach over 50 percent. On the mainland diversity is much lower, and communities are dominated by massive and encrusting corals. Bleaching was reported at a number of localities in 1998, but recovery is thought to have been fairly good.
China
Although China has a substantial coastline facing the South China Sea there is little or no true reef development along any of it. Hainan, a large island in the mouth of the Gulf of Tongking, was once reported as having substantial fringing reef communities along parts of its southern coast, but a number of sites originally described in the 1950s were revisited in 1984 and found to have all but disappeared. Significant fringing reef structures around Shalao on the east coast and Xincun Bay in the southeast were visited in 1990 and found to be largely made up of dead coral rubble with only occasional live corals. The most extensive and diverse fringing reef communities are found in the area around Sanya where, in 1978, coral cover was reported as 50-90 percent on the East Reefs and 60 percent on the West Reef. These figures were reported to have fallen to 40-60 percent and 30-40 percent respectively by 1990, while many species had disappeared. Similarly important and diverse communities have also been reported off the islets in Yalong Bay just southeast of Sanya. The principal threats include coral mining for construction, blast fishing and the collection of corals for handicrafts. There are now reported to be efforts to protect and manage these reefs.
India
India, despite its vast size, has only a few coral reefs off its mainland coast, mostly concentrated around the Gulf of Kutch to the northwest, and the Gulf of Mannar near Sri Lanka in the southeast. Reefs are highly developed in the more remote archipelagos of Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The distribution and status of any reefs outside these areas remains largely unknown. The reefs and coral communities of the Gulf of Kutch are predominantly patchy structures built up on sandstone or other banks or around the small islands on the southern side of the gulf. They have adapted to extreme environmental conditions of high temperatures, fluctuating and high salinities, large tidal ranges and heavy sediment loads. As a result diversity is low, with only 37 hard coral species recorded and no branching species. Coral sand mining was a significant industry in the Gulf of Kutch in the early 1980s and may have added to already difficult conditions. Chronic oil pollution in the area may also be affecting the reefs. There is an oil pipeline right through the national park, parts of which were impacted by a major oil spill in 1999. Industrial pollution is a further concern, and the clearance of mangroves may have increased levels of sedimentation. The impacts of the 1998 coral bleaching were quite varied within this area, but on average were much lower than on reefs to the south, with about 30 percent mortality. Further down the coast there are some small, low diversity communities, but conditions here are quite harsh, with low salinities during the monsoon and high turbidity and wave action. Corals are also reported from the Gaveshani Bank some 100 kilometers off the coast from Mangalore.
Indonesia
Indonesia is the world’s largest coral reef nation, with over 50 000 square kilometers of reefs (17 percent of the world total), extending nearly 5 000 kilometers from east to west, and harboring over 17000 islands (including rocks and sandbanks). It touches on both the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as many seas, including the Andaman, Java, South China, Sulawesi, Banda and Arafura Seas. This same country has a vast array of coral reefs, many poorly described or completely unknown, while it completely straddles the region with the greatest reef biodiversity in the world. For the purposes of this account the physical and biological descriptions are subdivided into a number of geographic sub-units, however human and socio-economic issues are considered together for the entire country. Despite the vast area of the Indonesian Archipelago and the lack of detailed information about its reef communities, the majority of its coastal area is already heavily utilized, particularly in the west, and considerable areas are under increasing stress from human activities. About 6 000 of Indonesia’s islands are inhabited, and marine and coastal resources and activities generate 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. One study along the west coast of Lombok made a detailed assessment of coral reef value, particularly looking at fisheries production, but also at tourism, mariculture, ornamental trade and other resources. The estimated value of the reefs in the area was US$5 800 per hectare. This same coastline was utilized by 7 100 fishermen and over 35 percent of their fish catch came from coral reefs.
Japan
The islands of Japan stretch from the edge of the tropics to the mid-temperate regions, and in so doing provide one of the clearest examples of the latitudinal limits to coral growth and reef development. The southernmost islands are a long chain, the Nansei Shoto, which clearly subdivides into a series of smaller archipelagos, with the Yaeyama Islands, including the important islands of Iriomote and Ishigaki in the south, followed by the Ryukyu Islands, including the island of Okinawa. Closest to the large island of Kyushu is a final group of small islands, the Tokara Islands. Following on from these the main islands of Japan, including Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu in the south continue, with numerous offshore islands. One critical factor for reef development in these islands is the Kuroshio Current, which flows northwards along the edge of the continental shelf of the East China Sea, bringing relatively warm waters across the southern islands before passing out into the Pacific Ocean just south of Kyushu. Away from these islands Japan also has a number of more isolated islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Daito Islands are a small group of three islands some 300 kilometers east of Okinawa. Two are raised atolls, the third a raised platform reef. Coral growth is apparently not well developed on the steeply shelving sides of these islands. South of these there is also reported to be reef development on the isolated reef of Okino Tori-shima lying on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. Leading southwards from Tokyo there is a sequence of small island groups which follow the volcanic South Honshu Ridge. The Izu Shoto are a widely spaced group of high volcanic islands, lying relatively far north. Further south again the Ogasawara (Bonin) and Kanzan (Volcano) Islands form two groups along a volcanic arc linking Japan and the Mariana Islands to the south. Volcanic activity and a lack of suitable substrates precludes the development of reefs on many of these islands, although rich fringing communities occur in some areas. One of the most isolated reefs, even by Pacific standards, is that of Minami-Torishima (Marcus Island) an atoll lying halfway between the Ogaswara Islands and Wake Island (USA).
Malaysia
Malaysia is a large country split into two land areas: Peninsular Malaysia and east Malaysia. The latter, comprising the states of Sarawak and Sabah, is located along the northern and western edge of the island of Borneo. All of these areas are located on the Sunda Shelf, although the edge of this continental shelf comes relatively close to the land around Sabah. Although Peninsular Malaysia has a relatively high relief its coastline, particularly in the south and west, is dominated by low-lying land and mangroves or former mangrove areas. Offshore a number of small islands are important for reef development. These include the Pulau Langkawi group in the northwest, Pulau Semblian in the west, and the Pulau Tioman and Pulau Redang groups in the east. East Malaysia also has a very high relief, although in the west there is a generally wide coastal strip with extensive wetlands and mangrove development. Further east, and particularly in Sabah, the coastline is more complex and indented, with a generally narrow coastal strip. Again, a number of offshore island groups are important for reef development, particularly around Sabah.
Maldives
The Maldives are a spectacular chain of 22 coral atolls which run for some 800 kilometers north to south in the Central Indian Ocean. These include the largest surface-level atolls in the world: the area of Thiladhunmathi and Miladhunmadulu Atolls (with two names, but a single atoll structure) is some 3 680 square kilometers, while Huvadhoo Atoll in the south is over 3 200 square kilometers. (The Great Chagos Bank to the south occupies an even greater area, but is now largely submerged.) More than any other nation outside the Western Pacific, the Maldives is dependant on coral reefs for the maintenance of their land area, food, export earnings and foreign currency from tourism revenues. The Maldivian people have been estimated to have among the highest levels of per-capita fish consumption of any nation, at 125 kilos per person per year. The majority of this consumption is of tuna and other pelagic species, while the majority of export fisheries are also centered on tuna. Some reef fish are taken for local consumption, but the most important reef fishery is the capture of live bait for the offshore tuna fishery. Fish exports for the live fish markets of East and Southeast Asia have also been significant through the late 1990s, and this is having an impact on grouper stocks.
Philippines
The Philippines are a large and complex mass of over 7 000 islands making up the north of insular Southeast Asia. Together with Indonesia to the south, the Philippines lie in the center of global coral reef biodiversity and have a vast area of reefs. In the far north the archipelago commences with the Batanes and Babuyan Islands in the Luzon Strait, just south of Taiwan. The northern third of Luzon itself is highly mountainous and parts remain heavily forested, while the central parts are predominantly agricultural with large areas of low-lying land. Relatively close to Luzon are the islands of Mindoro and Marinduque, the former mountainous and still largely under forest. South of Luzon lies a complex mass of islands known as the Visayas, including Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar, centered around the Visayan Sea which, despite the tight configuration of islands, reaches a depth of more than 200 meters in some places. The southernmost major island is Mindanao, which lies separated from the Visayas by the Bohol Sea. This is another mountainous island, with a narrow shelf on all sides. The Philippines Trench to the east of Mindanao and Samar reaches depths of more than 10 000 meters at a distance of less than 80 kilometers from shore. Stretching to the southwest from Mindanao is a chain of islands known as the Sulu Archipelago, coming close to the coastline of Sabah in Malaysia and separating the Sulawesi (Celebes) Sea in the south from the Sulu Sea to the north. There are several remote islands and atolls in the central Sulu Sea, while its northern edge is marked by the long mountainous island of Palawan as well as various smaller ones.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a large continental island off the southeast coast of the Indian sub-continent. About 30 percent of the land area is low-lying (less than 30 meters elevation). Offshore the continental shelf is particularly narrow to the south and east, widening to the northwest to join that of India. Much of the coastline is dominated by high wave energy, while the southern and western coasts are further affected by considerable turbidity associated with numerous river mouths. Largely as a consequence of this, coral reefs are not abundant in the coastal waters. It has been estimated that fringing reefs of varying quality occur along about 2 percent of the coastline, mostly along northwestern and eastern coasts. This statistic ../../includes many coral communities which have developed on non-coral, or fossil reef, platforms. Most reefs could be described as fringing-type formations (although not all are mature structures with clear zonation patterns). Additionally there are some barrier reefs on the northwest coast at Vankalai, Silavatturai and Bar Reef, while in the southeast corals have colonized offshore ridges at Great Basses and Little Basses. The reefs around the Jaffna Peninsula in the north are mainly fringing reefs, but not very well developed. The greatest reef development is in the northwest between Mannar Island and the Kalpitiya Peninsula.
Taiwan
Taiwan (China) lies relatively far to the north. Nonetheless, it has a number of well developed coral reef communities at the northern edge of the South China Sea, particularly along its southern edge, and around offshore islands. Taiwan is particularly affected along its southern and eastern edges by the Kuroshio Current, which carries warm water from the south, although its influence is weakened during the winter months by the Northeast Monsoon. An estimated 300 hard coral species have been recorded at the island, along with 1 200 fish species. There are thought to be considerable pressures on the reefs in Taiwan, particularly from fishing, coastal development and tourism. Dynamite fishing, trawling and sedimentation are reported to have degraded the reefs around the Pen Hu Islands, while destructive fishing and tourism are believed to have impacted reefs on the southeast mainland. Aquarium fish collecting and spear fishing are also reported to have affected numbers of reef fish. Nuclear power plants were reported to have been built in the vicinity of a number of reefs, while a nuclear waste disposal site was reportedly established at Lan-Yu
Vietnam
Vietnam has an extensive coastline encompassing a great latitudinal range. In the far south this coastline is very low-lying and dominated by the Mekong River Delta and the Cau Mau Peninsula. A short section of coastline faces the Gulf of Thailand, while offshore there are a number of islands, including the relatively hilly Phu Quoc Island and associated islands to the south, as well as the islands of Nam Du and Tho Chau, the latter being located about 150 kilometers west of the mainland. Some 80 kilometers offshore from the Mekong Delta there are a number of small hilly islands called the Con Dao (Con Son) Islands. North of the Mekong Delta Vietnam’s coastline becomes one of high relief, with little or no coastal plain, and the edge of the continental shelf coming quite close inshore. Further north still the coastline sweeps in to the west and the continental shelf becomes very wide indeed around the Gulf of Tonkin. There are occasional islands along the central coastline, and close to the Chinese border numerous small islands, including the Cat Ba islands and other dramatic limestone islands which rise up vertically from the waters of Ha Long Bay.
Information provided by ICLARM - The World Fish Center, with support from the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). ReefBase: Oliver, J. and M. Noordeloos. Editors. 2002. ReefBase: A Global Information System on Coral Reefs.
30 Jun 2008 at 5:41pm
Scientists report that numbers of coral trout increased rapidly after ?no-take? zones were created in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park .
5 Jul 2008 at 5:34pm
NEW YORK (AP) - Sea coral is blessed with wonderful colors, an intricate design and memories of the lapping ocean. It's no wonder that the worlds of fashion and home decor are in the midst of a love affair with it.
2 Jul 2008 at 1:19pm
This woolly reef looks harmless enough, but hides some seriously mind-stretching geometry
5 Jul 2008 at 1:10am
Are you tired of the same vacations over and over again? Then try Orlando's Discovery Cove! At Discovery Cove, located near Sea World, you can swim with a dolphin, snorkel in a coral reef, float down a tropical river and interact with different tr...
Brunei Darussalam 
Cambodia 
China 
India 
Indonesia 
Japan 
Malaysia 
Maldives 
Philippines 
Sri Lanka 
Taiwan 
Vietnam 
