Threatened Elkhorn Coral Colony Discovered for 1st Time in 100 Years

Scientists have not discovered a new colony of the endangered Pacific elkhorn coral in over 100 years! Considered one of the "world's rarest coral", the threatened species resembles antlers. The new colony was found near the Marshall Islands in the Arno Atoll. Live Science reports:

The Pacific elkhorn coral colony was a rare find, but it may not be an entirely new species. Corals fitting the description of the Pacific elkhorn were first described in 1898 near Fiji in the South Pacific, but scientists don't have enough genetic information from this earlier find to say if the corals are a match, Richards said.

The Atlantic relative, A. palmata is regarded by most marine researchers as the outstanding symbol of the plight of Caribbean corals. It is rated as critically endangered after vanishing from most of its Caribbean reef habitat in recent decades.

"When Zoe showed me pictures of the Pacific elkhorn, I was shocked," said coral geneticist David Miller of CoECRS and James Cook University, also in Queensland. "The colonies look just like the critically endangered Caribbean species A. palmata, one of the most distinctive of all corals. The fact that these colonies might represent a species that has not been seen for over a hundred years (A. rotumana) says something about how much we know about the remote reefs of the North Pacific," Miller said.

There has been debate as to whether the Pacific elkhorn should be listed as threatened or endangered.  In 2006, it was listed as threatened. 

Image: USGS

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