Euphyllia ancora

Euphyllia ancora (reclassified in 2017 as Fimbriaphyllia ancora[2])is a species of hard coral in the family Caryophylliidae.[1] It is known by several common names, including anchor coral and hammer coral, or less frequently as sausage coral, ridge coral, or bubble honeycomb coral.[3]

Euphyllia ancora
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hexacorallia
Order: Scleractinia
Family: Euphylliidae
Genus: Euphyllia
Species:
E. ancora
Binomial name
Euphyllia ancora
Veron & Pichon, 1980
Synonyms
  • Hammer Coral

Description

This type of madreporial colony is easy to identify because of its puffy tubular tentacles with T-shaped tips. The coral is blue-gray to orange in color, sometimes with green on the tentacles. It can demonstrate full or partial viral infection of green fluorescent protein, a trait highly sought for aquarium specimens. Colonies are usually no more than a meter across, but at times can reach several meters.[4]

  • Gold
  • Green
  • Neon green
  • Grey

Distribution and habitat

The anchor coral is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific area from the Maldives to the Salomon Islands with a large presence in Indonesia.[3] It is common in some areas, but it faces several threats that have reduced its overall population. Its coral reef habitat is also degraded and destroyed in many areas.[1]

References
  1. Turak, E.; Sheppard, C.; Wood, E. "Euphyllia ancora". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T133173A3614080.en.
  2. Luzon, Katrina S.; Lin, Mei-Fang; Ablan Lagman, Ma. Carmen A.; Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y.; Chen, Chaolun Allen (4 December 2017). "Resurrecting a subgenus to genus: molecular phylogeny of Euphyllia and Fimbriaphyllia (order Scleractinia; family Euphyllidae; clade V)". PeerJ. 5: e4074. doi:10.7717/peerj.4074. PMC 5719963. PMID 29226032.
  3. (in French) Lamare, V. and P. Scaps. Euphyllia ancora Veron & Pichon, 1980. In: Données d'Observations pour la Reconnaissance et l’Identification de la faune et de la flore Subaquatiques (DORIS).
  4. Euphyllia ancora. AIMS Coral Fact Sheets. Australian Institute of Marine Science.
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