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Acropora speciosa coral

Acropora speciosa coral

Acropora speciosa

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Protected Status

ESA Threatened
Throughout Its Range

Quick Facts

Weight
Not relevant for corals
Lifespan
Up to hundreds of years
Threats
Climate change, including ocean warming and ocean acidification, Diseases, Land-based sources of pollution, Unsustainable fishing, Small population size, Habitat degradation
Region
Pacific Islands
See Regulatory Actions
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About The Species

Acropora speciosa is a species of coral likely distributed from Indonesia to the Marshall Islands in the western and central Pacific. It also occurs in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and in at least one site in French Polynesia. In the United States it might be found in the Pacific Remote Island Areas and American Samoa. Colonies of Acropora speciosa form thick cushions or bottlebrush branches. Colonies are cream or light brown in color with delicately colored branch tips. Acropora speciosa is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 

NOAA Fisheries is committed to conserving and protecting Acropora speciosa. Our scientists and partners use a variety of innovative techniques to study, learn more about, and protect this species.

Learn more about Acropora speciosa (PDF, 3 pages).

Protected Status

ESA Threatened

  • Throughout Its Range

Scientific Classification

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Anthozoa
Order Scleractinia
Family Acroporidae
Genus Acropora
Species speciosa

In the Spotlight

Management Overview

Acropora speciosa is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 

Recovery Planning and Implementation

Under the ESA, NOAA Fisheries is required to develop and implement recovery plans for the conservation and survival of listed species if such a plan will benefit the conservation of the species. 

We are convening a workshop to solicit facts and information from stakeholders and experts to inform development of a recovery plan for 15 species of Indo-Pacific reef corals.

The virtual workshop will be held in four sessions from May 5 - 27, 2021. This workshop will be open to the public.

See full details on the recovery planning workshops

Key Actions and Documents

Actions & Documents Incidental Take

Announcement of a Recovery Planning Workshop for the 15 ESA-Listed Indo-Pacific Corals

We are convening a workshop to solicit facts and information from stakeholders and experts to inform recovery planning for 15 species of threatened Indo-Pacific reef corals listed under the Endangered Species Act. We will not be asking for a consensus…
Information Gathering
,
Pacific Islands
Published

Initiation of a 5-Year Review of Indo-Pacific Reef-building Corals

We, NMFS, announce the initiation of a 5-year review for 15 Indo-Pacific reef-building corals (Acropora globiceps, Acropora jacquelineae, Acropora lokani, Acropora pharaonis, Acropora retusa, Acropora rudis, Acropora speciosa, Acropora tenella,…
Information Gathering
,
Pacific Islands
Published

Proposed Rule to Designate Critical Habitat for the Threatened Indo-Pacific Corals

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), propose to designate critical habitat for the seven threatened corals in U.S. waters in the Indo-Pacific (Acropora globiceps, Acropora jacquelineae, Acropora retusa, Acropora speciosa, Euphyllia…
Proposed Rule
,
Pacific Islands
Published

Listing of 20 Reef-Building Coral Species Under the ESA

We, NOAA Fisheries, are publishing this final rule to implement our final determination to list the following 20 species as threatened: five in the Caribbean (Dendrogyra cylindrus, Orbicella annularis, Orbicella faveolata, Orbicella franksi, and…
Final Rule
,
Pacific Islands
Southeast
Effective

Science Overview

Documents

Document

15 Indo-Pacific Coral Species Recovery Outline

This document serves as an interim guidance document to direct recovery efforts for 15 Indo-Pacific…

Pacific Islands
More Documents