From Wikipedia - Reading time: 5 min
| Montipora grisea | |
|---|---|
Conservation status
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Scleractinia |
| Family: | Acroporidae |
| Genus: | Montipora |
| Species: | M. grisea
|
| Binomial name | |
| Montipora grisea Bernard, 1897
| |
Montipora grisea is a small polyped stony coral in the family Acroporidae.
It is an encrusting species considered to be massively sized, with "thick unifacial plates."[2] It is usually dark brown or green in color, but also appears in shades of blue or pink.[2] These corals have small bumps, known as thecal papillae, that are fused together around the corallite.[3] They also have a coenosteum papillae that is present.[3]
Montipora grisea has a vast range, found within the reefs of forty-five countries and territories throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. It exists at depths of 3 to 20 meters, with a preference for "shallow, tropical reef environments on upper reef slopes."[4]
Despite being considered a common species with a presently large population, Montipora grisea faces an array of threats.[4] It is moderately susceptible to bleaching, though notably less so than Acropora corals.[4] Other threats include predation from the crown-of-thorns starfish, harvesting for the aquarium trade, climate change and ocean acidification.[4]
These corals can be hermaphroditic or gonochoric.[5] Their zygote produces planktonic planula larvae.[6] Metamorphosis takes place early before larval settlement occurs on the opposite side of the mouth.[6]