Coral Geographic is a web-based tool for scientific work and conservation planning that will pave the way for an exciting new era in reef research.

Dr Veron has been dubbed "King of Coral" for his leading role in identifying coral, and he continues to break new ground, formally naming and describing more than 100 new coral species.

His monograph of new species, to be released this week, is the latest milestone to cement the reputation of AIMS as the world leader in coral taxonomy, or classification.

Dr Veron is best known for creating the three-volume book series, Corals of the World, which has been used universally as the principle coral identification tool to date. But its pre-eminent position as a research tool is about to be replaced by the sophisticated electronic key forming part of Coral Geographic.

Dr Veron has tailored Coral Geographic to conservation, motivated by the increasing destruction of reefs over the last decade. He said: "I needed to find a way to deliver the message of science to the conservation decision-makers."

Coral Geographic is encyclopaedic in content, has fully referenced maps for all species, and has linked databases for all species’ attributes, abundances and habitats.

"It will be the first time such large amounts of scientific information have been readily and immediately usable. Up until now, this depth of information has been impossible to access without launching a full-scale research project. It means research will move forward with a whole string of new studies," Dr Veron said.

He said coral information previously has been scattered far and wide, "throughout science and the centuries".

"Coral Geographic offers all available biogeographical information on coral, as well as very quick access to anyone interested in the reef, including resource managers, scientists, divers, students and the public," said Dr Veron.

"They will be able to interrogate the data and find out, for example, which species are susceptible to bleaching and global warming, or where to place marine-protected areas and why."

When the website formatting process is complete, Coral Geographic will be the largest interactive database of its type in the marine world. Funding is yet to be sourced for the final stage of this extremely high-tech project.

The studies underpinning all species included in Dr Veron’s work have been undertaken in all major reef regions of the world over the past 30 years. Coral Geographic culminates a life-time dedicated to coral research.