''Favites abdita'', also known as the larger star coral, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

stony 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 polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...

in the

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

Merulinidae Merulinidae is a family of reef-building stony corals. Characteristics All the genera in this family are colonial, reef-building corals. Skeletal structures are similar to those of Faviidae but are highly fused, without paliform lobes. The valle ...

. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region and its range extends from East Africa and the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific Ocean. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has rated its conservation status as being "

near-threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

Description

''Favites abdita'' is a massive colonial coral forming rounded irregular mounds. The corallites are in diameter and have thick walls. The

septa The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

are straight with well-developed teeth. Various colours occur, ranging from reddish brown to greyish green, and the oral discs are usually green.

Distribution

''Favites abdita'' is native to the Indo-Pacific region where it occurs in shallow tropical and subtropical seas. Its range extends 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''; ...

and South Africa to India, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and the Central Pacific island groups. Its depth range is down to about and it is common on rocks and rocky reefs, outer reef channels, reef slopes and lagoons. It is also found at greater depths on coral rubble between reefs.

Status

''Favites abdita'' is a common species and has a wide range and is likely to be more resilient than some other coral species. There is no precise information on population trends but this coral faces the same threats as other species;

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

ocean acidification Ocean acidification is the reduction in the pH value of the Earth’s ocean. Between 1751 and 2021, the average pH value of the ocean surface has decreased from approximately 8.25 to 8.14. The root cause of ocean acidification is carbon dioxid ...

and degradation of its coral reef habitats. It is collected for the reef aquarium trade. The

has assessed its conservation status as being "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3704784 Merulinidae Corals described in 1786