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Lobophyllia serratus

About

Despite being endangered, the attractive morphology of Lobophyllia serratus results in it being continually targeted for the aquarium trade.

Species specific population trends are unknown for L.serratus, but like many other coral species, it is at risk of bleaching due to warming seas and the effects of climate change.

As a zooxanthellate species this coral obtains the majority of its energy from a symbiotic relationship with algae called zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae live in the tissue of coral and require sunlight for photosynthesis, a process that produces energy for the algae and its host coral.

Additional nutrition is attained through direct feeding in which extended fleshy polyps catch prey from the surrounding water. In Lobophyllia serratus these tentacles are extended at night.

  • Order: Scleractinia
  • Family: Mussidae
  • Trend: unknown
  • Depth Range (m): 4 - 15

EDGE Score

EDGE Score: 4.25 (?)
ED Score: 7.74 (?)
GE / IUCN Red List (?)
Not Evaluated Data Deficient Least Concern Near Threatened Vulnerable Endangered Critically Endangered Extinct in the Wild Extinct

Distribution

This species is found in the shallow, tropical waters of the central Indo-Pacific, including Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

Habitat and Ecology

L.serratus is found on tropical reef slopes from 4m down to a relatively shallow depth of 15m.

 

Find out more

This wordcloud illustrates the threats facing this species. The size of each word indicates the extent of a species range that is affected by that threat (larger size means a greater area is affected). The colour of the word indicates how much that threat impacts the species (darker shades of red mean the threat is more severe).

Urban development Industrial development Tourism Extreme temperatures Extreme weather Shipping Fishing Recreation Invasive species Native species Wastewater Industry Agriculture Air pollution

Threat wordcloud key:

Small area affected
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
Large area affected
Least severe
Most severe
Severity unknown
Source: The IUCN List of Threatened Species. Version 2017.1.
Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org