elkhorn coral

Hey guys, guess what's today's coral of the day is(drum roll)

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THE ELKHORN CORAL !!



ScleractiniaFamily: AcroporidaeGenus: AcroporaSpecies: palmata
Species DescriptionElkhorn coral is a large, branching coral with thick and sturdy antler-like branches.
The dominant mode of reproduction for elkhorn coral is asexual, with new colonies forming when branches break off of a colony and reattach to the substrate. Sexual reproduction occurs 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 typically release millions of "gametes".
The coral larvae (planula) live in the plankton for several days until finding a suitable area to settle, but very few larvae survive to settle and metamorphose into new colonies. The preponderance of asexual reproduction in this species raises the possibility that genetic diversity may be very low in the remnant populations.





Smaller fragments of broken coral were buried in the constantly shifting rubble on the sea floor, diminishing their chances of survival.
Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) is no stranger to storms and rough weather. This coral thrives in the turbulent conditions of the shallow reef crest and is well adapted to this type of environment.



The massive waves generated by the storm pounded this section of the reef, breaking loose and tossing about large fragments of Elkhorn coral.


sorry,this picture is just so beautiful that i had to put it up.:)


did you know?

Coral reefs are home to more kinds of life than any other marine environment, rivalling even the tropical rainforests on land. In fact, coral reefs reached their current level of biodiversity fifty million years ago and have been on the planet for over 400 million years...

hmm, if only corals had eyes, maybe sea-dinosaurs existed the past 400 million

stay tune for the next post as i'll be posting creatures from the deeps sea...(wooooo,scary)
that was the reason why i said there might be sea-dinosaurs because the deep sea creatures look so....
hehe,i won't spill the beans right now:D

whoops ,i gonna be late for school of i don't get ready now.
bye!remember STC!

(STC- it means save the corals my dear:)


love,elswyth
27 august 2008
6:52am

I WAS HERE @ 9:45 PM l 0Comment