Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Bottlebrush Coral (Acropora elseyi), recorded as Endangered
Bottlebrush Coral (Acropora elseyi). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Bottlebrush Coral

Acropora elseyi

Bottlebrush Coral is a staghorn coral in the family Acroporidae (order Scleractinia) — Acropora elseyi, recorded as Endangered and tied to Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Acropora elseyi
CITES
Appendix II
Taxonomy
Anthozoa · Scleractinia · Acroporidae · Acropora

The staghorn coral

It was first described by Fred J.

Acropora colonies are the staghorns and tables of warm reefs: branching or plate-like skeletons that can add tissue quickly when the water stays clear, bright, and stable.

Acroporid corals are reef-builders. The animal is a colony of polyps sharing one calcium-carbonate skeleton, usually with photosynthetic algae in the tissue.

Range and habitat

Bottlebrush Coral is recorded from Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Japan, New Caledonia, and Marshall Islands.

GBIF currently lists 1,504 occurrence points. Those points follow where people logged the taxon — museum drawers and surveys included — not a closed range boundary.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet

By day the polyps sit in sunlit water and feed the algae in their tissue; at night they can catch plankton. A colony does not walk. It lives or dies on that patch of reef.

A stony-coral colony is fixed. Growth, bleaching, and death happen in place. Collection and gear damage remove the skeleton as well as the tissue.

In crisis

CITES lists this taxon on Appendix II. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.

Branching acroporids are among the first corals to bleach in a marine heatwave and among the first to smash in a storm or under an anchor.

Bottlebrush Coral is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the Cebuano Wikipedia article on Acropora elseyi, translated and retold in English, plus Wikidata item Q3946064 and GBIF occurrence geography. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Confirm status and range on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Elkhorn coral

Acropora palmata
Photograph of Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Staghorn coral

Acropora cervicornis
Photograph of Acropora aculeus (Acropora aculeus), recorded as EndangeredEN

Acropora aculeus

Acropora aculeus
Photograph of Acropora acuminata (Acropora acuminata), recorded as EndangeredEN

Acropora acuminata

Acropora acuminata

Quick answers

What is Bottlebrush Coral?
Una ning gihulagway ni Fred J is a coral.
What is the conservation status of Bottlebrush Coral?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Acropora elseyi. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Bottlebrush Coral live?
Una ning gihulagway ni Fred J is a coral.
Why is Bottlebrush Coral in crisis?
Branching acroporids are among the first corals to bleach in a marine heatwave and among the first to smash in a storm or under an anchor.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Acropora elseyi?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Bottlebrush Coral a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.