Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Rough Cactus Coral (Mycetophyllia ferox), recorded as Critically Endangered
Rough Cactus Coral (Mycetophyllia ferox). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Critically Endangered

Rough Cactus Coral

Mycetophyllia ferox

Rough Cactus Coral is a brain coral in the family Faviidae (order Scleractinia) — Mycetophyllia ferox, recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to U.S. Virgin Islands, United States, and Puerto Rico.

Status
Critically Endangered
Scientific name
Mycetophyllia ferox
CITES
Appendix II
Taxonomy
Anthozoa · Scleractinia · Faviidae · Mycetophyllia

The brain coral

Brain and maze corals in this group grow as mounds or plates with valleys of polyps. The pattern is the skeleton, not a paint job.

Stony corals secrete a hard calcium-carbonate skeleton. A named ‘species’ on a reef is a colony of polyps, often hosting zooxanthellae that need sunlit, relatively clear water.

Range and habitat

The species occurs in the Caribbean Sea, the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico and near Florida and the Bahamas.

GBIF currently lists 11,417 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.

Habits

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.

The colony stays where it settled. Water quality, light, and a stable bottom decide whether tissue remains on the skeleton.

In crisis

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

Warm-water bleaching, sedimentation, destructive fishing, and the curio trade sit behind many stony-coral badges. That is the group backdrop — confirm the official criteria for this name on the Red List.

Rough Cactus Coral is Critically 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 Dutch Wikipedia article on Mycetophyllia ferox, translated and retold in English, plus Wikidata item Q3943081 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 Lowridge cactus coral (Mycetophyllia danaana), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Lowridge cactus coral

Mycetophyllia danaana
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 Rough Cactus Coral?
Rough Cactus Coral is a brain coral in the family Faviidae (order Scleractinia) — Mycetophyllia ferox.
What is the conservation status of Rough Cactus Coral?
Critically Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Mycetophyllia ferox. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Rough Cactus Coral live?
The species occurs in the Caribbean Sea, the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico and near Florida and the Bahamas.
Why is Rough Cactus Coral in crisis?
Warm-water bleaching, sedimentation, destructive fishing, and the curio trade sit behind many stony-coral badges. That is the group backdrop — confirm the official criteria for this name on the Red List.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Mycetophyllia ferox?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Rough Cactus Coral a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.