''Montipora digitata'', also known as finger coral, is a species of stony
coral. It is found in shallow water in East Africa, the Indo-West Pacific, Kenya, Mozambique and Rodriguez.
Description
Colonies of ''Montipora digitata'' are digitate or bushy with vertically aligned, anastomosing branches, and forming hemispherical mounds that may be or more in diameter. The
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 small and deeply sunk into the skeleton, giving it a pitted appearance. This coral is usually pale cream, pale yellow or brown.
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Biology
''Montipora digitata'' is a zooxanthellate species of coral.[ It obtains most of its nutritional needs from the ]symbiotic
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
dinoflagellate
The dinoflagellates (Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are ...
s that live inside its soft tissues. These photosynthetic
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in c ...
organisms provide the coral with organic carbon and nitrogen, sometimes providing up to 90% of their host's energy needs for metabolism and growth. Its remaining needs are met by the planktonic organisms caught by the tentacles of the polyps.hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...
. Spawning takes place once a year and is synchronised among the colonies in any one locality. Packets of eggs and sperm are released into the water column and, being buoyant, rise to the surface. Here the packets break up and cross-fertilisation takes place with gametes from different colonies intermixing.
Status
This coral is a common species and is relatively unaffected by coral bleaching. The main threats faced by corals are related to climate change; the mechanical destruction of their coral reef habitats, increasing damage from extreme weather events, rising sea water temperatures and ocean acidification. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the conservation status of this species as being of " least concern". All corals receive protection by being listed on CITES Appendix II.[
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References
External links
*
ReefCorner - Montipora digitata Database Entry
{{Taxonbar, from=Q150194
Acroporidae
Cnidarians of the Indian Ocean
Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean
Marine fauna of Africa
Marine fauna of Asia
Marine fauna of Oceania
Corals described in 1846
Taxa named by James Dwight Dana