Oman - Cave Site (Muscat)

Setting

A high-cover fringing reef beneath a rocky Muscat headland, where encrusting and tiered foliose Montipora, brain corals, massive Porites, and green branching Acropora form a nearly continuous framework cut by sand gullies, shaded crevices, and small overhangs (e.g., Image 5, Image 6, Image 7, Image 9, Image 11, Image 12, Image 13, Image 15, Image 16, Image 17, Image 19, Image 20).

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General benthic features

Coral-on-coral contact margins are everywhere — space, not substrate, is the limiting resource (e.g., Image 1).

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Coral cover

The highest as-scored coral cover of the seven 2024 Oman survey sites: 68.6% hard coral (manual CoralNet point counts, 2025 re-analysis; Mayfield 2025, Platax), with soft coral 8.1% and turf algae 10.8%. Published hard coral cover 63% (Mayfield 2025, Platax; manual CoralNet point counts, benthic denominator). Sample sizes: manual 171 photos · CoralNet 171 · DINOv3 151 · CoralSCOP 169. Multi-method mean 50.9% ± 14. This CoralSCOP and DINOv3 estimate is a placeholder while Anderson searches for a stronger coral-cover model; expect it to be updated if he finds one.

Stressors

No bleaching observed during these May 2024 surveys, before the seasonal SST peak; NOAA CRW recorded Alert Level 2 heat stress and bleaching was reported along this coast from July 2024, weeks after the surveys.

Fish and other fauna

Clark's anemonefish in their host anemones, a honeycomb moray, a camouflaged scorpionfish, and schooling grunts headline the fauna (e.g., Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 8, Image 14).

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Comparisons with other data

Coral cover — external cross-reference (Reef Check). Two independent measurements, reported side by side and deliberately not averaged. Anderson Mayfield / CRD: 50.9% hard coral (2024). The two are 7 years apart (CRD later). Methods differ (CRD photographic/point-count index vs Reef Check point-intercept transect). Reef Check site positions are approximate; at 0.93 km apart the two surveys may have sampled different patches of the same reef, which is the main caveat on this comparison. Different station, different observers: a near-concurrent cross-check, not a repeat of this site.