Species Millepora foveolata Crossland, 1952
Fire Coral, Hydrocoral
- Millepora foveolata Crossland, C. 1952. Madreporaria, Hydrocorallinae, Heliopora and Tubipora. Scientific Reports of the Great Barrier Reef Expedition 1928-1929 6: 85–257 [Fig. 1, pls. 1-56].
Introduction
Millepora foveolata colonies are yellow to pale-pink yellow and form thin encrusting laminae attached to the underlying substrate, sometimes confused with the similarly encrusting Millepora exaesa, which lacks ridges and has more prominent nodules (Randall & Cheng, 1984). This species is listed as vulnerable (V) under the IUCN red list of endangered species due to a limited understanding of its biology, its rarity, restricted range, susceptiblity to bleaching in shallow waters, the collection of M. foveolata for the jewellery trade and the threat of climate change and ocean acidification. Of the Australian Millepora species, it is the only species listed as Vulnerable by IUCN, probably due to its noted susceptibility to bleaching (Loya et al., 2001).
Distribution
States
Northern Territory, Queensland
Extra Distribution Information
Tropical cosmopolitan distribution.
Ecological Descriptors
Sessile, shallow water, tropical.
General References
Loya, Y., Sakai, K., Yamazato, K., Nakano, Y., Sambali, H., & van Woesik, R. 2001. Coral bleaching: the winners and the losers. Ecology Letters [Monthly, 1998-] 4(2): 122-131
Randall, R.H. & Cheng, Y-M. 1984. Recent corals of Taiwan, 3. Shallow water Hydrozoan corals. Acta Geologica Taiwanica 22: 35-99, pls 1-11
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HYDROZOA Owen, 1843 | 06-Jan-2017 | ADDED | Dr Narissa Bax |