''Acropora lokani'' is a species of acroporid

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

that was first described by C. C. Wallace in 1994. Found in marine, shallow reefs and sheltered lagoons, it occurs at depths between . It is listed as vulnerable on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, and is believed to have a decreasing population. It is not common but found over a large area, including in three regions of Indonedia, and is listed under CITES Appendix II.

Description

''Acropora lokani'' is found in colonies up to wide and consisting of upright strong branches. It is brown, cream or blue in colour, and its branches have diameters of and may grow to long. The branches divide into branchlets, which contain axial, incipient axial, and radial corallites. The axial corallites are located on the end of the branchlets and are large and tube-shaped, with inner diameters of between and outer diameters of . The radial corallites are small and are both surrounded by and contain elaborate spinules. The species looks similar to ''

Acropora caroliniana ''Acropora caroliniana'' is a species of acroporid coral that was first described by Nemenzo in 1976. Found in tropical, shallow reef slopes, it occurs at depths of in a marine environment. The species is rated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red Li ...

'' and ''

Acropora granulosa ''Acropora granulosa'' is a species of acroporid coral found in the northern and southwest Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, Australia, the East China Sea, Japan, the oceanic central and western Pacific Ocean, and the central Indo-Pacific. It occurs ...

''. It is found in sheltered lagoons, flats of shallow reefs, patch reefs, and in other shallow marine environments. It occurs at depths of between . It is composed of

aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including prec ...

(calcium carbonate).

Distribution

''Acropora lokani'' is not common but found over a large area; the Indo-Pacific, Fiji, Southeast Asia, American Samoa, Raja Ampat, the Solomon Islands, Pohnpei, and also the Great Barrier Reef. It is native to American Samoa, Australia, three regions of Indonesia, Fiji, Micronesia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guine, Samoa, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and the Solomon Islands. There is a lack of population data for the coral, but numbers are believed to be declining. It is threatened by climate change, rising sea temperatures causing bleaching, reef destruction, coral disease, being prey to starfish ''Acanthaster planci'', and human activity. It is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List, is listed under CITES Appendix II, and may occur within Marine Protected Areas.

Taxonomy

It was first described by C. C. Wallace in 1994 in the Indo-Pacific Ocean as ''Acropora lokani''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3953986 Acropora Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Fauna of the Indian Ocean Marine fauna of Asia Marine fauna of Oceania Fauna of Southeast Asia Vulnerable fauna of Asia Vulnerable fauna of Oceania Animals described in 1994