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Already in 1970 Dietrich D. KUEHLMA N of the Museum fUr Naturkunde in Berlin visited Massawa
and Port Sudan to collect corals. This was followed in 1976 by a four-month stay at Al Hudayah and Port
Sudan to study the dependence of coral associations on ecological factors. During that time KUEHLMANN
also collected corals and dived down to 70 m at Wingate Reef. The coral collection has not been evaluated
yet, but a few corals are dealt with in this report.
Mention should be made of a large-scale coral collecting expedition to the Wingate Reef near Port
Sudan and to the Island Djebel Zuqur in the south of the Red Sea in 1976, organized by the Meeresmuseum
Stralsund and led by Sonnfried STREICHER, on MS "Eichsfeld", a merchant vessel of the German
Democratic Republic. The course of the expedition " Acropora 76" was described by S. STREICHER
("90 Tage im Roten Meer" ), its objectives ("Ein Riffturm soli es sein") and the corals ("Korallen") and
coral reefs (" 1m Riff" ) were described by G. SCHULZE (all 1977). A comprehensive report of the expedition
was published by S. STREICHER in his book "90 Tage im Korallenriff" (1980). In 1979 a second
expedition "Acropora 79" was made to the island of Umm-al-Sciora off the Ethiopian harbour Assab
with the purpose of collecting further material. An impressive coral reef was built and is on display at the
Meeresmuseum Stralsund, whereas the vast coral collection hat not been evaluated so far. A general review
of both expeditions was given by the Meeresmuseum Stralsund in 1981.
Besides The Marine Biological Station at Ghardaqa in Egypt a second centre of marine research developed
at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. As early as 1936 scientists of the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem started to study the Red Sea fauna. After the State of Israel was founded in 1948 it became
necessary to make use of the nutritional resources of the Red Sea to supply the population with food. In
1950 the town of Eilat was founded, whose harbour constantly increased in importance. The cooperation
between the Department of Fisheries of the Government and the Universities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
resulted in an intensive exploration of the litoral marine fauna of the Sinai Peninsula.
This cooperation was highlighted by the two South Red Sea Expeditions of 1962 and 1965 to the
region of the Dahlak Archipelago northeast of Massawa. o. H. OREN reported in 1962 on the first,
C. LEWINSOH & L. FISHELSON in 1967 on the second expedition. A. WAINWRIGHT described in 1965
the coral reef communities of the first expedition. Both expeditions brought home large coral collections
which were identified by J . W. WELLS and M. PICHON, though not published. In 1968H. BOSCHMA wrote
on "The Milleporina and Stylasterina of the Israel South Red Sea Expedition" and J. VERSEVELDT on
Octocorallia (Stolonifera and Aleyonacea) in 1965.
To provide a home for research and teaching a provisio nal marine biological station in tents and
waggons was set up south of Eilat in the fifties, which was also open to scientists of other countries. In
1965 /66 a first course on tropical marine biology for students and young scientists was organized by
MAMBO (Mediterranean Association of Marine Biology and Oceanology). In 1968 an urgently needed
modern research institute could be opened south of Eilat whose first director was Heinz STEINITZ.
H. FENTON & H. STE INITZ wrote on Israel's marine biological research in 1967, the Marine Biological
Laboratory was reported on in an anonymous paper of the Hebrew University of J erusalem in 1968, and
in 1969 by G. v. WAHLERT and W. KLAUSEWITZ , one of the first foreign visitors (1968) to the new station.
Shortly afterwards (i n May 1968) H. FEUSTEL of the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt went to Eilat
and brought home from there a small collection of corals, which are mentioned in the present report.
The " Hebrew University - Smithsonian Institution J oint Program" whose main objective was to study
the " Lessepsian migration", the migration of organisms from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean through
the Suez Canal, started in 1967 and lasted several years. The most important results, the story of the
programme and the collecting tasks were described by F. D. POR , H. STE INITZ , J. FERB ER & W. ARO
in 1972 . They also described the different habitats and marked them on maps, and indicated the registration
numbers. In the course of this programme also corals were collected, mainly in the Gulf of Aqaba,
but also in the Gulf of Suez and some in the Red Sea at the south tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Prof. Dr. POR
sent us the corals for evaluation, however, a manuscript completed in 1974 (SCHEER & PILLAI) could
not be published. These corals are therefore dealt with in the present report.
From 1968 to 1971 the Tel Aviv University, too, collected corals along the coasts of the Sinai Peninsula
in the Gulf of Aqaba and in the Gulf of Suez. These corals were sent to us for identification by Prof. Dr.
FISHELSON. Some corals were also sent to Dr. PICHON who gave us his list of names. All these corals are
part of the present report.