Specimen F 88708 Staghorn Coral, Acropora divaricata (Dana, 1846)

Summary

This coral is called a staghorn coral because of the shape of its narrow branches. They are stony corals which build hard skeletons of calcium carbonate on which the soft bodied coral polyps live. In life it would have been brown with blue tips.

This species, Acropora divaricata, is widely distributed and common 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 divaricata are declining rapidly enough for the species to be classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being Near Threatened. International trade in most corals and coral products is illegal and this species is 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.