Acropora
Last updated
Albert Kok at Dutch Wikipedia (Original text: Albert Kok) · via Wikipedia: Acropora · Public domain
These corals are major reef builders that construct the calcium carbonate substructure of reefs.[1] Belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, the genus Acropora consists of small polyp stony corals.[2]
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumCnidaria
- SubphylumAnthozoa
- ClassHexacorallia
- OrderScleractinia
- FamilyAcroporidae
- GenusAcropora
Named by Oken, 1815
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Acropora (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- Number of described species
- over 149
- Species in indo-pacific
- over 100
- Species in caribbean
- 3
- Polyp diameter
- about 2 mm / 0.079 in
Facts from the source article.
Biology and range
The true number of species is unknown because some named species are hybrids, such as Acropora prolifera.[3] Some species also represent cryptic species complexes.[3] In the Indo-Pacific region, over 100 Acropora species are found, while only 3 species occur in the Caribbean.[3] The typical coloration for most Acropora species is brown or green, though a small number exhibit bright colors that are highly valued by aquarium enthusiasts.[4]
Under natural conditions, solitary colonies of Acropora can reach sizes greater than one meter in diameter.[4] Parasites frequently encountered on Acropora kept in reef aquariums include the flatworm Amakusaplana acroporae (known as the "Acropora-eating flatworm") and the copepod Tegastes acroporanus (called "red bugs").[5] A total of ten Acropora species were designated as 'threatened' by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2014.[6]
What the specialist sources record
The World Register of Marine Species lists the name Acropora Reuss, 1869 as unaccepted, with the accepted name Porina, in family Porinidae, order Cheilostomatida, class Gymnolaemata.[7] That WoRMS record notes the environment as marine.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Acropora" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Acropora at Encyclopedia of Life (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Acropora" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Acropora" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vollmer, "Hybridization and the Evolution of Reef Coral Diversity", Science, 2002, p. 2023–2025; Ladner, "Extensive sympatry, cryptic diversity and introgression throughout the geographic distribution of two coral species complexes", Molecular Ecology, 2012, p. 2224–2238 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Acropora" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Restoration", The Global Coral Repository, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Acropora" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rawlinson, "Taxonomy and life history of the Acropora-eating flatworm Amakusaplana acroporae nov. sp. (Polycladida: Prosthiostomidae)", Coral Reefs, 2011, p. 693–705 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Acropora" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Adding 20 Coral Species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife", Federal Register, p. 67356–67359 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- World Register of Marine Species, Acropora (AphiaID 578625). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Acropora (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Acropora Corals
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Acropora (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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