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

Endangered

Acropora retusa

Acropora retusa

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

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

Appearance

Acropora retusa is a Acropora coral found in U.S. Waters in Guam, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas Colonies of Acropora retusa are often found in green or brown colors and are made of flat plates with short branches, causing them to appear spikey.

Range and habitat

No country pin is stored for Acropora retusa on this catalog. That is a missing field, not proof the animal has no range.

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.

Acropora retusa 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 Acropora retusa — often a short stub, Wikidata item Q16480257. 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 Acropora retusa?
Acropora retusa is a staghorn coral in the family Acroporidae (order Scleractinia).
What is the conservation status of Acropora retusa?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Acropora retusa. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Acropora retusa live?
Acropora retusa is a Acropora coral found in U.S. Waters in Guam, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas Colonies of Acropora retusa are often found in green or brown colors and are made of flat plates with short branches, causing them to appear spikey.
Why is Acropora retusa 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 retusa?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Acropora retusa a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.