Euphyllia ancora (reclassified in 2017 as Fimbriaphyllia ancora)is a species of

hard coral Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyp (zoology), polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral di ...

in the family

Caryophylliidae The Caryophylliidae are a family of stony corals found from the tropics to temperate seas, and from shallow to very deep water. Genera *'' Africana'' Ocana & Brito, 2015 *'' Anomocora'' Studer, 1878 *'' Asterosmilia'' Duncan, 1867 *'' Auloc ...

. It is known by several common names, including anchor coral and hammer coral, or less frequently as sausage coral, ridge coral, or bubble honeycomb coral. Lamare, V. and P. Scaps
''Euphyllia ancora'' Veron & Pichon, 1980.
''In'': Données d'Observations pour la Reconnaissance et l’Identification de la faune et de la flore Subaquatiques (DORIS).

Description

This type of madreporial colony is easy to identify because of its puffy tubular tentacles with T-shaped tips. The coral is blue-gray to orange in color, sometimes with green on the tentacles. It can demonstrate full or partial viral infection of

green fluorescent protein The green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a protein that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to light in the blue to ultraviolet range. The label ''GFP'' traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the jellyfish ''Aequorea ...

, a trait highly sought for aquarium specimens. Colonies are flabelloid, phaceloid or flabello-meandroid. Walls are thin and soil. Columellae are mostly absent. Septa are exsert, smooth edged and solid. Tentacles are extended day and night and are large and fleshy. They vary in shape among species. Euphyllia ancora have a "T" or boomerang shape to them.Colonies are usually no more than a meter across, but at times can reach several meters. They are all symmetrically about a central axis and have a sac-like body cavity with only one opening, which serves as both mouth and anus. This opening is surrounded by tentacles which have stinging cells. The body wall, unlike that is any other group of animals except comb-jellies, consist of two cell layers, the ectodermis and gastrodermis, separated by a jelly-like layer, mesoglea. File:Hammer coral.jpg, Gold File:10-EastTimor-Dive Dirt-Track 25 (Cleaner Anemone Shrimp)-APiazza.JPG, Green File:Euphyllia ancora (Anchor bubble coral).jpg, Neon green File:Euphyllia_ancora,_tentáculos_ancla.jpg, Grey

Distribution and habitat

The anchor coral is widespread throughout the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

waters of the

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

area from the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

to the

Salomon Islands The Salomon Islands or Salomon Atoll is a small atoll of the Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. Description The atoll is located in the northeast of the Chagos Archipelago, between Blenheim Reef and Peros Banhos. The main isla ...

with a large presence in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is common in some areas, but it faces several threats that have reduced its overall population. Its coral reef habitat is also degraded and destroyed in many areas.

Reproduction

Euphyllia ancora is a gonochoristic, and spawns in late spring in Taiwan via external fertilization. As Twan has stated, E. ancora has been found to mass spawn under the definition of Harrison and Wallace which sates "the synchronous release of gametes by many species of corals in one evening between dusk and midnight". They form new colonies from tentacle tips which have broken free of parent colonies. Major nights of spawning occur on the 3rd and 6th nights after a full moon during a period of neap tides.

Development

As mentioned before, Euphyllia ancora is gonochoristic. Prior to spawning, the gametes of are released from the gonads into the polyp coelenteron and has been seen aggregating beneath the oral disk of the polyp. Cleavage begins at the site of the polar body release within 1 or 2 hours after fertilization. The first cell division happens soon after which results in equal or unequal sized blastomeres. Embryos soon after develop into a hollow blastula which flattens out to form a concave dish which then thickens, and redevelops into a spheroidal form. Embryogenesis involves partial differentiation of the outer epidermis and the formation of cilia leading to the development of an early planula stage. Ciliated larvae form 14 to 24 hours after fertilization. The planulae is now formed. An oral pore and pharynx form by invagination of the ectoderm 24 hours after fertilization. Between 24 and 36 hours, a coelenteron forms and the partially differentiated endoderm is separated from ectoderm by a layer of mesoglea . The planula become elongated and increasingly active with time free swimming around the water column. Benthic searching behavior has been seen 3 to 7 days after fertilization. Planulae have been found to contain an outer ectodermal layer and an interior region that has a large yolk reserve. Vitellogenin (Vg major egg yolk protein precursor has been identified in Euphyllia ancora. Ep (another novel yolk protein) was also found in to be E. ancora. Vg and Ep were found to be produced in the ovarian somatic cells adjacent to oocytes. To this date, no other yolk proteins have been found in cnidarians. Zooxanthellae are first incorporated in the planula tissues during development and may enter through the ectoderm near the oral pore. Once the planula had become larger, more developed and successfully attached to settle permanently on a hard substratum, it metamorphoses from the larval form into a juvenile polyp which then initiated the formation of the calcium carbonate exoskeleton.

Conservation

Sea temperature in the tropics have increased by almost 1℃ over the past 100 years and are currently increasing at the rate of 1-2℃ per century. Zooxanthelle corals live close to the upper limit of thermal tolerance and become stressed if exposed to temperatures 1-2oC above normal. If stressed, corals expellee their zoothanthellae and turn whote - they 'bleach'. Conservation is a really easy and beneficial way to save coral reefs. Coral reefs are sometimes surrounded around poor countries/islands. Scuba and snorkling activities for tourists are a great way to earn revenue. Like well managed tourist industries, these activities have little or no environmental impact and as they represent an eternally renewable source of income, they are likely to be important in the quest for effective management practices that lead to long-term conservation.

References

External links

*Hoeksema, B
''Euphyllia ancora''.
World Register of Marine Species. {{corals Euphylliidae Animals described in 1980