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

Endangered

Acropora secale

Acropora secale

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

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

Appearance

Several colour schemes occur in this coral, purple with yellow tips to the branches, pale brown with blue tips, plain green or plain brown.

The branches can grow to a diameter of 20 mm (0.8 in) and length of 70 millimetres (2.8 in).

Range and habitat

Acropora secale is found in the tropical waters of the west Indo-Pacific among them the coasts of East Africa, Mozambique, Rodrigues, Aldabra and Chagos. It is also found further east around Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and north and west Australia. It is a reef-building coral and occurs at depths down to 5 metres (16 ft) on outer reef flats, reef slopes, reef edges and walls.

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 secale 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 secale, Wikidata item Q3314172. 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 secale?
Acropora secale is a staghorn coral in the family Acroporidae (order Scleractinia).
What is the conservation status of Acropora secale?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Acropora secale. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Acropora secale live?
It is found in shallow parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the type locality is Sri Lanka.
Why is Acropora secale 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 secale?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Acropora secale a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.