Corals on Endangered List

Samw · #1 03-06-2005, 06:41 AM

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/

Code:

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.”

Samw · #2 03-06-2005, 06:45 AM

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2398.htm

Ah, its (Acropora cervicornis) and (Acropora palmata). Anyone got frags?

It'll get pretty expensive soon.

sumpfinfishe · #3 03-06-2005, 09:52 AM

Good info on a sad read Sam

I'm sure this is just a start of things to come, the worlds reefs have taken some serious bouts by both mankind and mother nature in years gone by and it's only getting worse. Hopefully things will get better one day soon, in the meantime we will just have to keep fragging our own little reefs.

Tarolisol · #4 03-06-2005, 04:23 PM

I dont think it will change the price one bit, the sps corals we get are not from florida. You havent been allowed to collect SPS from florida waters in years and years.

danny zubot · #5 03-07-2005, 02:49 PM

I thinks Jonathan has some purple or blue stag in his frag tank if your still wondering.

Delphinus · #6 03-07-2005, 05:43 PM

Tarolisol is correct, this isn't really new. Both of those species of Acropora are Carribean species which has had restrictions on collection since well before I got into the hobby (1998). The staghorns you see in most people's tanks are Pacific species. Not that I have fully looked into this development, but IMO, realistically, all this likely will result in, is increase the penalties for the (already illegal) collection of those two particular species of coral.