Alveopora spongiosa

Alveopora spongiosa is a species of stony coral that is found in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the southwest and northern Indian Ocean, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia Japan, the East China Sea and the oceanic west and central Pacific Ocean. It can be found on protected upper coral reef slopes, generally from depth of 9–20 m, but can grow at depths of up to 50 m. It is moderately susceptible to coral bleaching, and is harvested for the aquarium trade.

Alveopora spongiosa

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Scleractinia
Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Alveopora
Species:
A. spongiosa
Binomial name
Alveopora spongiosa
Dana, 1846 [2]
Synonyms
  • Alveopora fijiensis Hoffmeister, 1932
  • Alveopora regularis

Description

Colonies of Alveopora spongiosa take various forms; they may be submassive plates or cushions, or be columnar or encrusting, sometimes reaching a diameter of 2 metres (10 ft). The septa on the corallite walls bear slender tapering spines of various lengths which do not connect together. The polyps may have two whorls of knobbed tentacles, six long ones and six short. The colonies are usually some shade of brown, sometimes with white tips to the tentacles.[3]

Biology

Alveopora spongiosa is a zooxanthellate species of coral.[2] It obtains most of its nutritional needs from the symbiotic dinoflagellates that live inside its soft tissues. These photosynthetic organisms provide the coral with organic carbon and nitrogen, sometimes providing up to 90% of their host's energy needs for metabolism and growth. Its remaining needs are met by the planktonic organisms caught by the tentacles of the polyps.[4]

Status

This coral is moderately susceptible to coral bleaching but less so than related species that occur in shallower water. It is an attractive small coral and is collected by the reef aquarium trade. All corals receive protection by being listed on CITES Appendix II. The main threats faced by corals are related to climate change; the mechanical destruction of their coral reef habitats, increasing damage from extreme weather events, rising sea water temperatures and ocean acidification. It has a wide range and is locally common, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the conservation status of this species as being "near-threatened".[1]

gollark: At least that's my opinion.
gollark: Other way round, really.
gollark: (I know, I just joke about it being inevitable lots)((OR DO I?))
gollark: See, I like capitalism but dislike much of how the government works.
gollark: And because of that complexity you need to throw money at lawyers to deal with legal things and may have to settle for a bad outcome *even if you're innocent*.

References
  1. Sheppard, A.; Fenner, D.; Edwards, A.; Abrar, M. & Ochavillo, D. (2014). "Alveopora spongiosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T133482A54270492. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T133482A54270492.en.
  2. Hoeksema, Bert (2015). "Alveopora spongiosa Dana, 1846". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  3. "Alveopora spongiosa". Australian Institute of Marine Science. 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  4. Ruppert, Edward E.; Fox, Richard, S.; Barnes, Robert D. (2004). Invertebrate Zoology (7th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 122. ISBN 978-81-315-0104-7.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.