Corals on Endangered List

[Samw]

Elkhorn and Staghorn corals have been placed on Endangered list. Not really sure what kind of corals these are. Acros or some other SPS?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7082940/

WASHINGTON - In two major conservation decisions, the Bush administration has finalized a controversial policy on trade in endangered beluga sturgeon while also proposing that two coral species, staghorn and elkhorn, be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. 

It would be the first time any coral species was found needing government protections to avoid extinction. In the United States, the two species are found in shallow water throughout Florida. They grow best in clear water free from excess nutrients, runoff or algal blooms.

"These formerly abundant corals have remained at low levels without noticeable recovery, and in cases where we have targeted monitoring data, they continue to decline," Conrad Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement. “Threats to these species include physical damage from human activities and hurricanes, as well as disease and temperature-induced bleaching.”