List of corals of the Houtman Abrolhos
The marine waters of the Houtman Abrolhos, an island chain off the coast of Western Australia, have been recorded as containing 194 species of coral in 50 genera. This is a surprisingly high coral diversity, considering the high latitude of the reef, and the relatively low diversity of other biota. This is a list of corals of the Houtman Abrolhos:
Houtman Abrolhos
Only two species of land mammal are indigenous to the Houtman Abrolhos, the tammar wallaby ("Macropus eugenii") and the bush rat ("Rattus fuscipes"). Both are native only to West and East Wallabi Islands, although "R. fuscipes" has not been collected on East Wallabi Island since August 1967, and is probably extinct there. The tammar wallabi was seen on West Wallabi Island by survivors of the 1628 "Batavia" shipwreck, and recorded by Francisco Pelsart in his 1629 "Ongeluckige Voyagie". This represents the first recorded sighting of a macropod by Europeans, and probably also the first sighting of an Australian mammal. Tammar wallabies were introduced to North Island from East Wallabi Island by fishermen, probably in the 1950s, but failed to establish themselves. In 1987 they were reintroduced again, this time successfully. By the 2000s, there were over 400 wallabies on the island, resulting in overgrazing of native vegetation and increased erosion. Research into the effectiveness of controlling population levels by the use of implanted contraceptives was begun in 2005, but in July 2007 the research was discontinued and the population culled instead.