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Acropora tenella coral

Acropora tenella coral

Acropora tenella

Acropora tenella coral illustration. Credit: Jack Hornady.

Protected Status

ESA Threatened - Foreign
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
Foreign
See Regulatory Actions

About The Species

Acropora tenella is a species of coral likely found in the Coral Triangle area (the Philippines to Timor Leste and east to the Solomon Islands). There are also confirmed records of this species in southern Japan, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. Colonies of Acropora tenella have horizontal, plate-like colonies with flattened branches that usually have a central ridge. Colonies are cream colored with blue or white tips.

Under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA Fisheries must list threatened and endangered marine species regardless of where they are found. Acropora tenella is listed as threatened throughout its range under the ESA.

Learn more about Acropora tenella (PDF, 3 pages) 

Protected Status

ESA Threatened - Foreign

  • Throughout Its Range

Scientific Classification

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Order Scleractinia
Family Acroporidae
Genus Acropora
Species tenella

In the Spotlight

Management Overview

Under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA Fisheries must list threatened and endangered marine species regardless of where they are found. Acropora tenella is listed as threatened throughout its range under the ESA.

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

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

More Information

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
Document

Status Review Report of 82 Candidate Coral Species Petitioned Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

On October 20, 2009, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the National Marine Fisheries…

Pacific Islands
More Documents