''Orbicella faveolata'', commonly known as mountainous star coral, is a

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. ''Orbicella faveolata'' is native to the coral coast of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and is listed as "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

" by 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 natu ...

. ''O. faveolata'' was formerly known as ''Montastraea faveolata''.

Description

Colonies of this coral are solid and very large, forming a mound with a skirt. The surface is smooth and undulating, with small lumps, bulges or lobes. The corallites, the stony cups in which the polyps sit, are about in diameter and cover the entire surface of the coral. The colour is usually a pale brown, yellowish green and grey but may be deep brown, with fluorescent green highlights. This coral is part of a species complex including the closely related ''

Orbicella annularis ''Orbicella annularis'', commonly known as the boulder star coral, is a species of coral that lives in the western Atlantic Ocean and is the most thoroughly studied and most abundant species of reef-building coral Corals are marine inverteb ...

'' and ''

Orbicella franksi ''Orbicella franksi'', commonly known as boulder star coral, is a colonial stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It is native to shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Florida, and is listed as a "vulne ...

'', but the former has more distinct nodules or small columns and the latter has a more irregular, lumpy surface.

Distribution and habitat

''Orbicella faveolata'' occurs in shallow waters in the

and the

, its range including

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

united states The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and possibly

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. It is found on both the back reef and fore reef slopes of

fringing reef A fringing reef is one of the three main types of coral reef. It is distinguished from the other main types, barrier reefs and atolls, in that it has either an entirely shallow backreef zone (lagoon) or none at all. If a fringing reef grows direc ...

s at depths of up to . It is often the most abundant coral species on fore reef slopes between .

Biology

Like other corals, ''Orbicella faveolata'' has a

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 ...

relationship with a dinoflagellate in the genus ''

Symbiodinium : ''This is about the genus sometimes called Zoox. For the company, see Zoox (company)'' ''Symbiodinium'' is a genus of dinoflagellates that encompasses the largest and most prevalent group of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates known. These unicell ...

''. These symbionts are commonly known as

zooxanthellae Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus ''Sy ...

and large numbers are present in the coral's living tissue. Several different species of ''Symbiodinium'' associate with the coral, depending on the degree of light intensity reaching the part of the surface where they reside. When artificial shading was applied by researchers to corals for some weeks, the ''Symbiodinium'' died out in the shaded portion. When the light was restored, zooxanthellae became reinstated, but in many instances, the original species was replaced by a different species of ''

''. The surface of the coral can be considered a

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably well ...

, an ecological community of micro-organisms. The

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

and

archaea Archaea ( ; singular archaeon ) is a domain of single-celled organisms. These microorganisms lack cell nuclei and are therefore prokaryotes. Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (in the Archaebac ...

present vary with the time of year and in the spring (but not the autumn) their composition is also affected by the health of the coral and whether it is suffering from

yellow-band disease Yellow-band disease (similar to Yellow Blotch disease) is a coral disease that attacks colonies of coral at a time when coral is already under stress from pollution, overfishing, and climate change. It is characterized by large blotches or patches ...

. Orbicella faveolata is related to the

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 ...

species lobed star coral ( ''Orbicella annularis'') and the species

boulder star coral Boulder star coral may refer to two different species of coral: * '' Orbicella annularis'', a species of coral in the family Merulinidae * ''Orbicella franksi ''Orbicella franksi'', commonly known as boulder star coral, is a colonial stony coral ...

(''

'') which both live in the

and the

in areas such as

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and ect. The species '' Paramontastraea saleborsa'' and

Astrea curta Astrea may refer to: * Astraea, Greek deity * Astrea, Colombia, a municipality in the department of Cesar, Colombia * ASTREA, an acronym for the Aerial Support To Regional Enforcement Agencies unit of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department * ...

have similarly sized corallites. The species P. saleborsa was also formaly placed in the

genus Montastraea.

Status

''Orbicella faveolata'' is a slow-growing species and the rate at which new colonies are formed is less than the rate at which mature colonies die. It is susceptible to

bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

and to several coral diseases including

black band disease Black band disease is a coral disease in which corals develop a black band. It is characterized by complete tissue degradation due to a pathogenic microbial consortium. The mat is present between apparently healthy coral tissue and freshly expo ...

and

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. Numbers of individuals are believed to have declined by over 50% in the last thirty years and the

lists its conservation status as being "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3943235 Merulinidae Coral reefs Corals described in 1786 ESA threatened species