Summary

This coral is a staghorn coral. It is a stony coral, meaning it builds a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate on which a colony of soft bodied coral polyps live. When alive the polyps would be cream, purple and blues.

This species, Acropora samoensis, is widely distributed around the world where suitable shallow tropical reef habitat occurs. This specimen came from Wistari Reef in the Capricorn Group off Queensland.

Corals around the world are threatened by reduction in reef habitat from climate change and other human impacts as well as the increased likelihood of bleaching events as global average temperature increases. Populations of Acropora samoensis are not currently declining rapidly and it is not believed to be in imminent danger. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) therefore classifies it as being of Least Concern. International trade in most corals and coral products is illegal and this species is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to ensure international trade does not threaten its survival in the wild.

Specimen Details

  • Taxon Name

    Acropora samoensis

  • Author and date of publication

    (Brook, 1891)

  • Preferred Common name

    Staghorn Coral

  • Other Common Names

    Stony Coral

  • Date Identified

    1994

  • Identified By

    Dr Carden C. Wallace - Museum of Tropical Queensland

  • Number Of Specimens

    1

  • Specimen Nature

    Form: Dry

  • Collected By

    Barry R. Wilson

  • Category

    Natural Sciences

  • Scientific Group

    Invertebrate Zoology

  • Discipline

    Invertebrates

  • Collecting Areas

    Invertebrates

  • Type of Item

    Specimen

Taxonomy

Geospatial Information

  • Country

    Australia

  • State

    Queensland

  • Precise Location

    Capricorn Group, Wistari Reef

  • Latitude

    -23.48

  • Longitude

    151.88

  • Geodetic Datum

    WGS84