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Montipora australiensis coral

Montipora australiensis coral

Montipora australiensis

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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, Habitat degradation
Region
Foreign
See Regulatory Actions
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About the Species

Montipora australiensis is a species of coral likely found in the western Indian Ocean and western Pacific from Malaysia to Vanuatu and southern Japan to northern Australia. Colonies of Montipora australiensis are pale brown, forming thick plates and irregular columns.

Montipora australiensis is listed as threatened throughout its range under the Endangered Species Act.

Learn more about Montipora australiensis (PDF, 3 pages) 

Population Status

Relative localized abundance refers to how commonly a species is observed on surveys in a localized area. Veron (2014) reports that Montipora australiensis occupied 0.4 percent of 2,984 dive sites sampled in 30 ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific. It was given an abundance rating on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high) at each site where it occurred, based on how common it was at that site. Montipora australiensis had a mean abundance rating of 1.5. Based on this semiquantitative system, the species’ abundance was characterized as “rare.” 

Absolute overall abundance refers to a rough qualitative minimum estimate of the total number of colonies of a species that currently exist throughout its range. These estimates were calculated based on results from Richards et al. (2008) and Veron (2014). The absolute abundance of Montipora australiensis is likely at least millions of colonies.

Protected Status

ESA Threatened - Foreign

  • Throughout Its Range

Appearance

Colonies of Montipora australiensis are pale brown, forming thick plates and irregular columns.

Where They Live

Based on confirmed observations and strong predictions of occurrence in areas that have not yet been surveyed sufficiently, Montipora australiensis is likely distributed in the western Indian Ocean and western Pacific from Malaysia to Vanuatu and southern Japan to northern Australia.

Montipora australiensis occurs predominantly on upper reef slopes, lower reef crests, and reef flats, and it likely also occurs on mid-slopes and possibly other habitats at depths of 2 to 30 meters.

Lifespan & Reproduction

The reproductive characteristics of Montipora australiensis have not been determined, however, 35 other species of Montipora are all hermaphroditic (having both male and female gametes) broadcast spawners. Broadcast spawners release both male and female gametes into the water column and fertilization takes place externally.

Threats

Ocean Warming

A significant proportion of its current known geographic range is within the Coral Triangle area. This area is projected to have the most rapid and severe impacts from climate change and localized human impacts for coral reefs over the 21st century. Multiple ocean warming events have already occurred within the western equatorial Pacific (which includes the Coral Triangle area) that suggest future ocean warming events may be more severe than average in this part of the world.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Order Scleractinia
Family Acroporidae
Genus Montipora
Species australiensis

In the Spotlight

Management Overview

The Montipora australiensis is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It is also listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

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. NOAA Fisheries has developed a recovery outline to serve as an interim guidance document to direct recovery efforts, including recovery planning, for the 15 species of ESA-listed threatened Indo-Pacific corals (herein referred to as the 15 listed corals) until a full recovery plan is developed and approved. The recovery outline presents a preliminary strategy for recovery of the 15 listed corals and recommends high priority actions to stabilize and recover the species.

Recovery Planning Workshop

We held a recovery planning workshop for the 15 listed corals over the course of four 3-hour virtual sessions in May 2021. We announced the workshop in the U.S. Federal Register (86 FR 15650) on March 24, 2021, and it was open to the public. We held duplicate meetings for each session’s discussion points to accommodate participants from different time zones.

The purpose of the workshop was to connect stakeholders and experts from a range of relevant disciplines to:

  • Gather information and ideas on recovery approaches that address the challenges relevant to recovery of the 15 listed corals 
  • Develop recovery criteria that need to be met to delist each of the species 
  • Identify recovery actions to reduce and/or ameliorate threats to the 15 listed corals 

Participants represented a variety of areas of expertise from a range of relevant disciplines, including the listed coral species’ biology/ecology, threats to the species, the species’ habitat and ecosystem, recovery planning, and coral reef conservation and management.

Recovery Contacts

Critical Habitat Designation

Critical habitat only applies to U.S. waters. Of the 15 listed Indo-Pacific coral species, seven species have been recorded in U.S. waters (Acropora globiceps, A. jacquelineae, A. retusa, A. speciosa, Euphyllia paradivisa, Isopora crateriformis, and Seriatopora aculeata). Critical habitat was proposed for these seven species on November 27, 2020, in Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

Learn more about the Pacific Islands proposed coral critical habitat

Critical Habitat Contact

5-Year Review

On January 7, 2021, we announced our intention to conduct 5-year reviews for the 15 listed Indo-Pacific coral species, as required by the ESA to ensure that the listing classifications of species are accurate.

Learn more about the Indo-Pacific reef-building corals 5-year review

5-year Review Contact

Key Actions and Documents

Actions & Documents

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

ESA-Listed Indo-Pacific Coral Species Recovery Planning Workshop Summary

Recovery planning workshop summary report that was held in May 2021 for the 15 U.S. ESA-listed Indo…

Pacific Islands
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