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

Endangered

Astreopora listeri

Astreopora listeri

Astreopora listeri is a stony coral in the family Acroporidae (order Scleractinia), recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Astreopora listeri
CITES
Appendix II
Taxonomy
Anthozoa · Scleractinia · Acroporidae · Astreopora

Appearance

The corallites are crowded and not arranged in any particular pattern. This coral resembles Astreopora myriophthalma and Astreopora randalli in appearance and is usually cream, pale brown or grey.

Range and habitat

Astreopora listeri is widely distributed in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. Its range extends from Madagascar and East Africa to Indonesia and eastern Australia. It is found in several different types of shallow water reef habitat among them turbid areas, at depths between 5 and 20 m (16 and 66 ft).

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.

Astreopora listeri 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 Astreopora listeri, Wikidata item Q3942643. 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 Astreopora cucullata (Astreopora cucullata), recorded as EndangeredEN

Astreopora cucullata

Astreopora cucullata
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii

Quick answers

What is Astreopora listeri?
Astreopora listeri is a stony coral in the family Acroporidae (order Scleractinia).
What is the conservation status of Astreopora listeri?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Astreopora listeri. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Astreopora listeri live?
It is found in several different types of shallow water reef habitat among them turbid areas, at depths between 5 and 20 m (16 and 66 ft).
Why is Astreopora listeri 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 Astreopora listeri?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Astreopora listeri a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.