Russel Kelly's Presentation at the E-Reef Conference 2020Over the last decade coral taxonomy has undergone a revolution with the advent of molecular science. In the process many useful resources have been rendered obsolete and the already dark art of coral identification has become even more opaque to the interested person. The first part of this talk provides an overview of how coral taxonomy has changed, what parts of it are stable, and where future change is likely. The second part extends this information by explaining how to reliably use coral taxonomy going forward. Finally, I introduce Coral Finder 2021, the new molecular compliant edition, genus level coral ID tool that is practically focused and easy to use.

Russell Kelley is a science communication consultant with a special interest in coral reefs. He was an avid marine aquarist back in his youth before being seduced by the Great Barrie Reef and the Coral Triangle where he has dived now for 40 years. A coral reef biologist and geologist by original training Russell is passionate about communicating the inner workings of reefs to anyone who will listen Russell is the author of the Indo Pacific Coral Finder (the first easy-to-use visual coral ID system) and the Reef Finder. He has trained over a thousand people in the basics of coral identification and in 2017 was awarded the Australian Coral Reef Society medal for science communication. Currently a Churchill Fellow, he is road testing a new edition of the Coral Finder that will make it easier to learn all those pesky new molecular coral names!