Orbicella annularis
Last updated
Louiswray · via Wikipedia: Orbicella annularis · CC BY-SA 3.0
Orbicella annularis, commonly known as the Boulder star coral, is a species of coral that lives in the western Atlantic Ocean. It is the most thoroughly studied and most abundant species of reef-building coral in the Caribbean to date, and also has a comprehensive fossil record within the Caribbean.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumCnidaria
- SubphylumAnthozoa
- ClassHexacorallia
- OrderScleractinia
- FamilyMerulinidae
- GenusOrbicella
- SpeciesOrbicella annularis
Named by (Ellis and Solander, 1786)
Close relatives
Other species of Orbicella with a Codexery entry.
- Orbicella faveolata Orbicella faveolata
- Orbicella franksi Orbicella franksi
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Orbicella annularis (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 758260 (CC BY 4.0)
Conservation status
Endangered (EN)
- LC
- NT
- VU
- EN▲ this species
- CR
- EW
- EX
Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category
Where the orbicella annularis has been recorded
Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (36,635 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 16 inland records left out (institution coordinates).
Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)
Quick Facts
- Common name
- Boulder star coral
- Geographic range
- western Atlantic Ocean
- Original description
- Montastraea annularis
- Species complex members
- O. annularis
- O. faveolata
- O. franksi
Facts from the source article.
Background
Orbicella annularis has long been considered a generalist species that exists at depths between 0 and 80 metres. It grows into varying colony shapes—heads, columns, plates—in response to differing light conditions. Only recently, with the help of molecular techniques, has O. annularis been shown to be a complex of at least three separate species: O. annularis, O. faveolata, and O. franksi. This coral was originally described as Montastraea annularis.
More in Coral Reefs
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: Orbicella annularis (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Classification: the source article's taxobox; order, family and genus checked against WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species (CC BY 4.0).
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List assessment.
- Occurrence records: GBIF (CC0 / CC BY). Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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