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The Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) is a branching coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 with cylindrical branches ranging from a few centimeters to over two meters in length and height. It occurs in back reef
Reef

In nautical terminology, a reef is a Rock , bar , or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water .Many reefs result from abiotic processes?deposition of sand, wave erosion planning down rock outcrops, and other natural processes?but the best-known reefs are the coral reefs of tropical waters developed through biotic processes do...
 and fore reef environments from 0 to 30 m depth. The upper limit is defined by wave forces, and the lower limit is controlled by suspended sediments and light availability. Fore reef
Fringing reef

A Fringing reef is a kind of coral reef, that is located in the tropics generally immediately near the shoreline. This type of coral reef is the most common type of reef that is found....
 zones at intermediate depths (5-25 m) were formerly dominated by extensive single species stands of staghorn coral until the mid 1980s.






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The Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) is a branching coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 with cylindrical branches ranging from a few centimeters to over two meters in length and height. It occurs in back reef
Reef

In nautical terminology, a reef is a Rock , bar , or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water .Many reefs result from abiotic processes?deposition of sand, wave erosion planning down rock outcrops, and other natural processes?but the best-known reefs are the coral reefs of tropical waters developed through biotic processes do...
 and fore reef environments from 0 to 30 m depth. The upper limit is defined by wave forces, and the lower limit is controlled by suspended sediments and light availability. Fore reef
Fringing reef

A Fringing reef is a kind of coral reef, that is located in the tropics generally immediately near the shoreline. This type of coral reef is the most common type of reef that is found....
 zones at intermediate depths (5-25 m) were formerly dominated by extensive single species stands of staghorn coral until the mid 1980s. This coral exhibits the fastest growth of all known western Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 corals, with branches increasing in length by 10-20 cm per year. This has been one of the three most important Caribbean
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
 corals in terms of its contribution to reef growth and fishery habitat.

Distribution


Staghorn coral is found throughout the Florida Keys
Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, Florida, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, Florida, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tort...
, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean islands. This coral occurs in the western Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
, but is absent from U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Bermuda
Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1770 kilometres northeast of Miami, Florida, and 1350 kilometres south of Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada....
 and the west coast of South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. The northern limit is on the east coast of Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, near Boca Raton.

Threats and concerns


The dominant mode of reproduction for staghorn corals is asexual
Asexual reproduction

Asexual reproduction is reproduction which does not involve meiosis, ploidy reduction, or fertilization. Only one parent is involved in asexual reproduction....
 with new colonies forming when branches break off a colony and reattach to the substrate. This life history trait allows rapid population recovery from physical disturbances such as storms. However, it makes recovery from disease or bleaching
Coral bleaching

Coral bleaching is the loss of color of corals, due to stress-induced expulsion of symbiotic unicellular algae or due to the loss of pigmentation within the algae....
 episodes (where entire colonies or even entire stands are killed) very difficult.

Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is characterized by processes that pass a Genetic recombination of Genetics material to offspring, resulting in Genetic diversity....
 is via broadcast spawning of gametes into the water column once each year in August or September. Individual colonies are both male and female (simultaneous hermaphrodites) and will release millions of gametes. The coral larvae (planula) live in the plankton for several days until finding a suitable area to settle; unfortunately, very few larvae survive to settle and metamorphose into new colonies. The preponderance of asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction

Asexual reproduction is reproduction which does not involve meiosis, ploidy reduction, or fertilization. Only one parent is involved in asexual reproduction....
 in this species raises the possibility that genetic diversity in the remnant populations may be very low. These uncertainties as to recruitment/recovery potential and genetic status are the bases for increased demographic concerns for this species.

Since 1980, populations have collapsed throughout their range from disease outbreaks, with losses compounded locally by hurricanes, increased predation, bleaching, and other factors. This species is also particularly susceptible to damage from sedimentation and sensitive to temperature and salinity variation. Populations have declined by up to 98% throughout the range, and localized extirpations have occurred

ESA listing history

On March 4, 2004, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned NMFS to list elkhorn (Acropora palmata), staghorn (A. cervicornis), and fused-staghorn (A. prolifera) coral under the ESA. On June 23, 2004, NOAA Fisheries found that listing these species may be warranted and initiated a formal review of their biological status. NMFS convened the Atlantic Acropora Biological Review Team (BRT) to summarize the best available scientific and commercial data available for these species in the status review report.

The BRT completed the status review March 3, 2005. On March 18, 2005, NMFS determined that elkhorn and staghorn corals warrant listing as "threatened" species under the ESA. However, NMFS also concluded that listing fused-staghorn coral is not warranted, as it is a hybrid and does not constitute a species as defined under the ESA. On May 9, 2005, NMFS proposed adding elkhorn coral to the endangered species list.

Reefkeeping

Acropora cervicornis is currently not available in the aquarium trade as it is illegal to collect Caribbean species.

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