Montipora grisea

Montipora grisea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hexacorallia
Order: Scleractinia
Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Montipora
Species:
M. grisea
Binomial name
Montipora grisea
Bernard, 1897

Montipora grisea is a small polyped stony coral in the family Acroporidae.

Description

It is an encrusting species considered to be massively sized, with "thick unifacial plates."[2] It is usually dark brown or green in color, but also appears in shades of blue or pink.[2] These corals have small bumps, known as thecal papillae, that are fused together around the corallite.[3] They also have a coenosteum papillae that is present.[3]

  • Pink
    Pink
  • Green
    Green
  • Brown
    Brown

Distribution & habitat

Montipora grisea has a vast range, found within the reefs of forty-five countries and territories throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. It exists at depths of 3 to 20 meters, with a preference for "shallow, tropical reef environments on upper reef slopes."[4]

Despite being considered a common species with a presently large population, Montipora grisea faces an array of threats.[4] It is moderately susceptible to bleaching, though notably less so than Acropora corals.[4] Other threats include predation from the crown-of-thorns starfish, harvesting for the aquarium trade, climate change and ocean acidification.[4]

Reproduction and Development

These corals can be hermaphroditic or gonochoric.[5] Their zygote produces planktonic planula larvae.[6] Metamorphosis takes place early before larval settlement occurs on the opposite side of the mouth.[6]

References

  1. ^ DeVantier, L.; Hodgson, G.; Huang, D.; Johan, O.; Licuanan, A.; Obura, D.O.; Sheppard, C.; Syahrir, M.; Turak, E. (2014). "Montipora grisea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T133420A54258298. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T133420A54258298.en. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b Australian Institute of Marine Science, 2013. Montipora grisea. Montipora grisea. Corals of the World.
  3. ^ a b Veron J. E. N. (1993). In Biogeographic database of hermatypic coral species of the central Indo-Pacific, genera of the world story, Australian Institute of Marine Science, 57-58.
  4. ^ a b c d Australian Institute of Marine Science, 2013. Montipora grisea. Montipora grisea. Corals of the World.
  5. ^ Khalesi, M. K. (2015). Corals. Springer Handbook of Marine Biotechnology, 179–217.
  6. ^ a b Bernard, H. M. (1897). XI.—Notes, morphological and systematic, on the Madreporarian Subfamily Montiporinæ (Montipora and Anacropora), with an account of the Phylogeny of the Madreporidæz, Macmillan and Co, 20, 117–135.


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