A.+faviaformis


 * Scientific Name:** Acanthastrea faviaformis
 * Class:** Anthozoa
 * Order:** Scleractinia (stony corals)
 * Family:** Mussidae
 * Status:** vulnerable
 * Origin:** Rotes Meer
 * Location:**
 * Tropical; Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea to Philippines
 * found up to 12 m
 * This species is found in:
 * lagoons
 * upper reef slopes (foreslope and backslope)
 * Marine Nertic (coral reef)
 * Latitude:** 30°N - 12°S, 32°E - 132°E
 * Temperature:** 28.5 C
 * Salintiy:** 35.0 PSS
 * Currents:**
 * Agulhas Current
 * East Madagascar Current
 * Somali Current
 * Mozambique Current
 * Leeuwin Current
 * Indonesian Through-flow
 * North Equatorial Current
 * South Equatorial Current
 * Indian Monsoon
 * Tides:** Average= 0.99 M
 * Geologucal Processes:**
 * Earthquakes
 * Volcanoes
 * Sea-Floor Spreading
 * Subduction
 * Migration Pattern:** none
 * Popluation Estimate:** no specific popultion information availabe because of how widespread the species is
 * Survival Trends:** This species is susecptable to bleaching, disease, and other threats.SInce it is evident that there is a significant decline in coral reef species, population decline of Acanthastrea faviaformis is based on both the percentage of destroyed reefs and critical reefs that are likely to be destroyed within 20 years (Wilkinson 2004).
 * Appearance of Species:** Distinctive septa-costae with thick teeth. All dirty brown in color.
 * Reproduction:**
 * asexually (budding) where they attach to each other by thin sheets of living tissue as well as by newly secreted skeletal material
 * sexually (by means of sperm and eggs, which are produced in the mensentaries and dipsersed into the water. this results in free swimming larva, which then attach to surfaces and begin to secrete a skelton. this results in new colonies.
 * Facts:**
 * true coral (Madreporaria **) **
 * thin plates/layers of CaCo3 secreted over thousands of years by billions of tiny soft bodied animals (coral polyps)
 * each polyp secretes a cup-shaped skeleton (theca) around itself 
 * the body of each polyp is saclike (consists of a wall of jellylike material surrounding a digestive cavity) with a single opening (mouth) at the unattached end
 * the mouth is surrounded by tentacles used to capture small prey and is invaginated to form a pharynx leading into the body cavity
 * thin sheets of tissue (mesentaries) extend radially from the wall to the pharynx, dividing the cavity
 * second set of radial divisions is created by folds (septa) of the outer skeleton and body wall, which extend upward from the floor of the body cavity.
 * lives in a symbiotic relationship with a host algae, zooxanthellae (gives the coral its color)
 * harsh light source can cause harm while a 'good' light source (requied amt.) will cause them to produce many bright colours
 * Some solitary corals of that group may reach a diameter of 10 in. (25 cm)
 * colonial forms the individual polyps are usually under 1/8 in. (3 mm) long. The colonies, however, may be enormous






 * Food Chain/Web:**
 * phytoplankton
 * rotifers
 * baby artemia
 * marine algae
 * Economic Importance:**
 * tourism/recreation
 * biomedical research
 * fishing/harvesting of aquatic resources
 * commercial/industrial usage
 * residential & commercial development
 * industrial & military effluents
 * climate change & severe weather (storms and flooding)
 * temperature extremes
 * Threats:**

>
 * tourism/recreation
 * biomedical research
 * fishing/harvesting of aquatic resources
 * commercial/industrial usage


 * 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;
 * disease, pathogen and parasite management
 * artificial propagation and techniques such as cryo-preservation of gametes may become important for conserving coral biodiversity.


 * Solutions:**
 * more funding for different departments of research
 * decrease and/or better management of tourism/recreational activities
 * better ways to dipose of watse so the water doesn't become polluted, resulting in love nutrition in the water= harsher/fatal conditions for all marine organisms

Citations:** 1) [] 2) http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/IndianOcean/framework.html 3) [|http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/description_plate_tectonics.html] 4) http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/133624/0