Spatial Distribution
of the Azooxantellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa)

N. B. Keller

Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Received February 13, 1996; in final form, February 19, 1997

Abstract—A study of the spatial distribution of the azooxantellate Scleractinia shows that, in the tropical zone,
the highest number of species is concentrated in the western sectors of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans.
These organisms (likewise the reef-building corals and many other benthic invertebrates) spread according to
the pattern of asymmetric distribution of the tropical fauna. The species predominance in the western sectors of
the oceans decreases sequentially over the following morphological line: colonial azooxantellate–solitary
azooxantellate–flat solitary azooxantellate. The same regularity exists in the subtropical zone, though with
some deviations (in the North Atlantic). The coral distribution in the moderate Arctic and Antarctic is governed
by other regularities related to the climate and trophic factors. The problem of the centers of deep-water fauna
origin is discussed.

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