Socotra Island, Yemen October 8 to October 21, 2013

Joseph DiBattista (KAUST), Luiz Rocha (CAS), Jean-Paul Hobbs (UWA), Tane Sinclair-Taylor (KAUST), Mark Priest (KAUST), Fouad al Naseeb (EPA Socotra), Thabet Abdullah Khamis (EPA Socotra), Salah Saeed Ahmed (EPA Socotra)

A KAUST-funded diving expedition to genetically sub-sample and preserve whole reef fish specimens at an enigmatic island group off the Horn of Africa in the Indian Ocean in efforts to characterize connectivity with neighboring regions and rates of hybridization. Our sampling at this UNESCO World Heritage Site was facilitated by members of the Environmental Protection Authority in Yemen – Socotra Branch. This represents a critical sampling region outside of Saudi Arabian waters, which serves as a mixing zone for marine fauna found only in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Omani, East African, and Central Indian Ocean biogeographic provinces, respectively.