''Euphyllia cristata'' is commonly called grape coral. ''E. cristata'' is a kind of stony or hard coral in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Euphylliidae Euphylliidae (Greek eu-, true; Greek phyllon, leaf) are known as a family of polyped stony corals under the order Scleractinia. This family consists of multiple genera (more than one genus) and various species which are found among the ocean f ...

; it also belongs to the genus

Euphyllia ''Euphyllia'' is a genus of large-polyped stony coral. Several species are commonly found in marine aquarium A marine aquarium is an aquarium that keeps marine plants and animals in a contained environment. Marine aquaria are further subdiv ...

in the order of

Scleractinia 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 ...

. ''E. cristata'' has a wide range of distribution 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 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 ...

. However, despite this large range of distribution, ''E. cristata'' has a slightly lower abundance compared to other species, making them a little more uncommon to find. They are typically found in shallow waters from 1–35 meters deep.

Taxonomy

''Euphyllia cristata w''as first documented by Chevalier in 1971. ''E. cristata'' is a

Cnidaria Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that th ...

of the class

Anthozoa Anthozoa is a subphylum of marine invertebrates which includes the sea anemones, Scleractinia, stony corals and Alcyonacea, soft corals. Adult anthozoans are almost all attached to the seabed, while their larvae can disperse as part of the plank ...

and of the order of

. Scleractinia are hard corals''.'' ''E. cristata'' live in small sized phaceloid colonies, which is a particular type of spatial formation and organisation, where

corallite A corallite is the skeletal cup, formed by an individual stony coral polyp, in which the polyp sits and into which it can retract. The cup is composed of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, and is secreted by the polyp. Corallit ...

s are elongate, distinctive tube-like, and between 20 and diameter.

Distribution and Abundance

''E. cristata'' has a wide range of distribution in the Indo-Western Pacific. Their range of distribution also includes the Coral Triangle and the Great Barrier Reef. Even though ''E. cristata’s'' distribution is diverse, it is absent from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

. ''E. cristata'' is found on hard substrates. In addition, they are found in a depth of 1–35 meters below the surface.

Threats

The International Union for Conservation Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classified the Red List status of the ''E. cristata'' as vulnerable in 2008. In addition, many of the other Euphilids have been classified as threatened by the IUCN. There are many threats to the populations of ''E. cristata''. As a result of ''E. cristata'' being a colorful stony coral with big polyps, it has been sought after for jewelry. ''E. cristata'' is also faced with having to adapt to changes in mean tide levels, changes in wave action, increases in water temperature, ocean acidification, fisheries, exposure to pollution, and erosion. These things increase the frequencies of bleaching and increase the susceptibility of the coral to disease.

References

External links

*http://coral.aims.gov.au/factsheets/0146 * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3955590 Animals described in 1971 Euphylliidae