Staghorn and Elkhorn corals

About Staghorn Corals

• Staghorn corals are one of the most important corals in the Caribbean.
• Scientific name: Their scientific name is Acropora cervicornis.
• They, along with elkhorn coral and star corals (boulder, lobed, and mountainous) built Caribbean coral reefs over the last 5,000 years.
• Habitat: They lives in many coral reef habitats including spur and groove, bank reef, patch reef, and transitional reef habitats, as well as on limestone ridges, terraces, and hardbottom habitats.
• Distribution: 
  • They are found typically in clear, shallow water (15–60 feet) on coral reefs throughout the Bahamas, Florida, and the Caribbean.
  • The northern extent of the range in the Atlantic Ocean is Palm Beach County, Florida, where they are relatively rare.
• Appearance:
  • Their colonies are golden tan or pale brown with white tips and they get their color from the algae that live within their tissue.
  • They have antler-like branches and typically stem out from a central trunk and angle upward.
    • Branches are typically 1–3 inches thick.
  • Individual colonies can grow to at least 4 feet in height and 6 feet in diameter.
  • Their colonies can grow in dense stands and form an interlocking framework known as thickets.
    • These provide important habitat for other reef animals, especially fish.
  • Each staghorn coral colony is made up of many individual polyps that grow together.
    • Each polyp is an exact copy of all the polyps in the same colony.
• Diet: They get food from photosynthetic algae that live inside the coral’s cells.
  • They also feed by capturing plankton with their polyps’ tentacles.
• Behavior:
  • They are simultaneous hermaphrodite.
    • It means each colony produces both eggs and sperm, but usually does not self-fertilize.
  • They can also form new colonies when broken pieces, called fragments, re-attach to hard surfaces.
    • They are one of the fastest growing corals, when healthy.
  • Due to their bush-like growth form, they provide complex habitat for fish and other coral reef organisms.
    • When staghorn corals are abundant, they provide shoreline protections from large waves and storms.
• Threats: The greatest threat to staghorn coral is ocean warming & climate change, which causes the corals to release the algae that live in their tissue and provide them food, usually causing death.
  • Other threats include diseases such as white band and white plague diseases, ocean acidification, unsustainable fishing practices, and land-based sources of pollution.
  • White Band Disease (WBD) is a common tissue loss disease that affects the two Caribbean acroporid species Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata throughout their geographic range.

About Elkhorn Corals

• Elkhorn corals are one of the most important corals in the Caribbean.
• Scientific name: Their scientific name is Acropora palmata.
• Habitat: They generally lives in areas with high wave action, although major storms can break its branches.
• Distribution: They are found throughout the Bahamas, Florida and the Caribbean.
• Diet: They get most of their food from photosynthetic algae living inside their cells and also capture plankton with their tentacles.
• Appearance:
  • They are generally golden tan or pale brown with white tips.
  • Their colour comes from algae living within its tissues.
  • They have frond-like, tree-shaped branches that grow upward from a central trunk.
  • Individual colonies can grow to at least 6 feet in height and 12 feet in diameter.
  • They are usually lives in clear, shallow water about 1–15 feet deep on coral reefs.
• Behaviour:
  • They also form dense groups called “thickets” in very shallow water which provides important habitat for other reef animals, especially fish.
  • Their broken branches can reattach to hard surfaces and form new colonies, providing a form of asexual reproduction.
  • They also reproduces sexually once a year through broadcast spawning, usually after the full moon in late summer.
  • They are simultaneous hermaphrodite, meaning each colony produces both eggs and sperm.
  • When healthy, they are one of the fastest-growing corals and can grow up to 5 inches in branch length per year.
• Threats:
  • White band disease was a major cause of this decline and kills the coral’s tissues.
  • Other threats include ocean warming and acidification, unsustainable fishing practices and land-based pollution.