Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Branch coral (Acropora florida), recorded as Endangered
Branch coral (Acropora florida). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Branch coral

Acropora florida

Branch coral is a staghorn coral in the family Acroporidae (order Scleractinia) — Acropora florida, recorded as Endangered.

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

Appearance

The colour of this coral varies, and may be pinkish-brown or some shade of green.

Range and habitat

The branch coral is a acroporid coral found in the southwest and northern Indian Ocean, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan and the East China Sea, Cook Islands and the oceanic west Pacific Ocean. It can be found in shallow reefs on the reef tops, walls and slopes to depths of 30 m.

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.

Branch 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 English Wikipedia article on Branch coral, Wikidata item Q3945344. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · 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 Branch coral?
Branch coral is a staghorn coral in the family Acroporidae (order Scleractinia) — Acropora florida.
What is the conservation status of Branch coral?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Acropora florida. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Branch coral live?
The branch coral is a acroporid coral found in the southwest and northern Indian Ocean, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan and the East China Sea, Cook Islands and the oceanic west Pacific Ocean.
Why is Branch 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 florida?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Branch coral a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.