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Description |
Geographic Range [top]
Range Description: This species is found in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, southwestern Indian Ocean, northern Indian Ocean, central Indo-Pacific, north and west and south Australia, South-east Asia, Japan and East China Sea, eastern Australia, oceanic West Pacific, and central Pacific.
Countries occurrence:
Native:
American Samoa; Australia; British Indian Ocean Territory; Cambodia; Comoros; Cook Islands; Djibouti; Egypt; Eritrea; Fiji; French Polynesia; Guam; India; Indonesia; Israel; Japan; Jordan; Kenya; Kiribati; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Mauritius; Mayotte; Micronesia, Federated States of ; Mozambique; Myanmar; Nauru; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Niue; Norfolk Island; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Réunion; Samoa; Saudi Arabia; Seychelles; Singapore; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Tokelau; Tonga; Tuvalu; United States Minor Outlying Islands; Vanuatu; Viet Nam; Wallis and Futuna; Yemen
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Native:
Atlantic – southeast; Indian Ocean – eastern; Indian Ocean – western; Pacific – eastern central; Pacific – northwest; Pacific – western central; Pacific – southwest
Additional data:
? Lower depth limit (metres): 50
? Upper depth limit (metres): 3
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
Population [top]
Population: This species is usually uncommon. But in the Red Sea it is the most common species of Alveopora recorded (Sheppard and Sheppard 1991).
There is no species specific population information available for this species. However, there is evidence that overall coral reef habitat has declined, and this is used as a proxy for population decline for this species. This species is more resilient to some of the threats faced by corals and therefore population decline is estimated using the percentage of destroyed reefs only (Wilkinson 2004). We assume that most, if not all, mature individuals will be removed from a destroyed reef and that on average, the number of individuals on reefs are equal across its range and proportional to the percentage of destroyed reefs. Reef losses throughout the species range have been estimated over three generations, two in the past and one projected into the future.
The age of first maturity of most reef building corals is typically three to eight years (Wallace 1999) and therefore we assume that average age of mature individuals is greater than eight years. Furthermore, based on average sizes and growth rates, we assume that average generation length is 10 years, unless otherwise stated. Total longevity is not known, but likely to be more than ten years. Therefore any population decline rates for the Red List assessment are measured over at least 30 years. See the Supplementary Material for further details on population decline and generation length estimates.
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Current Population Trend: Unknown
Additional data:
? Population severely fragmented: No
Habitat and Ecology [top]
Habitat and Ecology: This species is found on protected upper reef slopes. Although it can occur up to 50 m depth, it is commonly found from 9-20 m, with mass colonies from 12-15 m, in the South China Sea and Gulf of Siam (Titlyanov and Titlyanova 2002).
Systems: Marine
Threats [top]
Major Threat(s): Species of this genus are attractive to the aquarium trade due to their physical appearance. Indonesia is the largest exporter with an annual quota of 1,050 live pieces in 2005. The total number of corals (live and raw) exported for this species in 2005 was 1,568.
In addition, the Alveopora genus was ranked as having the highest bleaching response and is in the top ten genera for extinction risk in the Western Indian Ocean (McClanahan et al. 2007). However, Alveopora species are considered to be relatively insusceptible to disease.
In general, the major threat to corals is global climate change, in particular, temperature extremes leading to bleaching and increased susceptibility to disease, increased severity of ENSO events and storms, and ocean acidification. In addition to global climate change, corals are also threatened by a number of localized threats. Localized threats to corals include fisheries, human development (industry, settlement, tourism, and transportation), changes in native species dynamics (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), invasive species (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), dynamite fishing, chemical fishing, pollution from agriculture and industry, domestic pollution, sedimentation, and human recreation and tourism activities. The severity of these combined threats to the global population of each individual species is not known.
Conservation Actions [top]
Conservation Actions: All corals are listed on CITES Appendix II. Parts of this species distribution fall within several Marine Protected Areas within its range.
Recommended measures for conserving this species include research in taxonomy, population, abundance and trends, ecology and habitat status, threats and resilience to threats, restoration action; identification, establishment and management of new protected areas; expansion of protected areas; recovery management; and disease, pathogen and parasite management. Artificial propagation and techniques such as cryo-preservation of gametes may become important for conserving coral biodiversity.
Having timely access to national-level trade data for CITES analysis reports would be valuable for monitoring trends this species. The species is targeted by collectors for the aquarium trade and fisheries management is required for the species, e.g., Marine Protected Areas, quotas, size limits, etc. Consideration of the suitability of species for aquaria should also be included as part of fisheries management, and population surveys should be carried out to monitor the effects of harvesting.
Citation: Sheppard, A., Fenner, D., Edwards, A., Abrar, M. & Ochavillo, D. 2014. Alveopora spongiosa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T133482A54270492. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T133482A54270492.en. Downloaded on 17 October 2018.
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