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Acropora Cophodactyla
''Acropora cophodactyla'' is a species of uncertain validity (taxon inquirendum) of acroporid coral found in the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, southeast Asia, the Solomon Islands and the western Pacific Ocean. It is also found in Fiji, Andaman Islands and American Samoa. It may be synonymous with '' A. humilis''. It is found in shallow tropical coral reefs on exposed upper slopes and flats, at depths of 0 to 12 m. It was described by Brook in 1892. Description ''Acropora cophodactyla'' occurs in encrusted-based colonies composed of digitated bushes. Its colonies contain thick branches that taper to a point, at which a single obvious axial corallite is located. Incipient axial and radial corallites are of varying diameters and occur in no specific pattern. The species is mainly purple or blue in colour. It looks similar to ''Acropora anthocercis'', ''Acropora appressa'', and ''Acropora humilis. Distribution It is listed as a data deficient species on the IUCN Red List ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxon Inquirendum
In biological classification, a ''species inquirenda'' is a species of doubtful identity requiring further investigation. The use of the term in English-language biological literature dates back to at least the early nineteenth century. The term taxon inquirendum is broader in meaning and refers to an incompletely defined taxon of which the taxonomic validity is uncertain or disputed by different experts or is impossible to identify the taxon. Further characterization is required. See also * Glossary of scientific naming * ''Candidatus'', a proposed taxa based on incomplete evidence * ''incertae sedis'', a taxon of uncertain position in a classification * '' nomen dubium'', a name of unknown or doubtful application * Open nomenclature Open nomenclature is a vocabulary of partly informal terms and signs in which a taxonomist may express remarks about their own material. This is in contrast to synonymy lists, in which a taxonomist may express remarks on the work of others. Common . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acroporidae
Acroporidae is a family of small polyped stony corals in the phylum Cnidaria. The name is derived from the Greek ''"akron"'' meaning "summit" and refers to the presence of a corallite at the tip of each branch of coral. They are commonly known as staghorn corals and are grown in aquaria by reef hobbyists. Description Staghorn corals are the dominant group of reef builders. They come in many shapes and sizes and can be highly variable in colour and form, even within the same species. Most are either a branching variant or a wall/ table top variant shaped and some are encrusting. Encrusting means they grow over rock structure. the Their colours vary between browns, whites, pinks, blues, yellows, greens and purple, depending not only on species but also on the growing conditions. Identification is difficult and requires close examination of the corallites and a biochemical and genetic analysis. There is a corallite at the tip of each branch and, with the exception of ''Astreopora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. A coral "group" is a colony of very many genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is a sac-like animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter and a few centimeters in height. A set of tentacles surround a central mouth opening. Each polyp excretes an exoskeleton near the base. Over many generations, the colony thus creates a skeleton characteristic of the species which can measure up to several meters in size. Individual colonies grow by asexual reproduction of polyps. Corals also breed sexually by spawning: polyps of the same species release gametes simultaneously overnight, often around a full moon. Fertilized eggs form planulae, a mobile early form of the coral polyp which, whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia. It does not include the temperate and polar regions of the Indian and Pacific oceans, nor the Tropical Eastern Pacific, along the Pacific coast of the Americas, which is also a distinct marine realm. The term is especially useful in marine biology, ichthyology, and similar fields, since many marine habitats are continuously connected from Madagascar to Japan and Oceania, and a number of species occur over that range, but are not found in the Atlantic Ocean. The region has an exceptionally high species richness, with the world's highest species richness being found in at its heart in the Coral Triangle, and a remarkable gradient of decreasing species richness radiating outward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal. The country takes its name from the wider area of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (currently a part of Papua New Guinea), but excludes the Santa Cruz Islands. The islands have been settled since at least some time between 30,000 and 28,800 BCE, with later waves of migrants, notably the Lapita people, mixing and producing the modern indigenous Solomon Islanders population. In 1568, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to visit them. Though not named by Mendaña, it is believed that the islands were called ''"the Solomons"'' by those who later rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about . The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau. About 87% of the total population of live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva; or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry; or in Lautoka, where the Sugarcane, sugar-cane industry is dominant. The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain. The majority of Fiji's islands were formed by Volcano, volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Some geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Most of the islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India, while the Coco Islands and Preparis Island are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. The Andaman Islands are home to the Andamanese, a group of indigenous people that includes a number of tribes, including the Jarawa and Sentinelese. While some of the islands can be visited with permits, entry to others, including North Sentinel Island, is banned by law. The Sentinelese are generally hostile to visitors and have had little contact with any other people. The government protects their right to privacy. History Etymology In the 13th century, the name of Andaman appears in Late Middl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International Date Line, while Samoa is west of the Line. The total land area is , slightly more than Washington, D.C. American Samoa is the southernmost territory of the United States and one of two U.S. territories south of the Equator, along with the uninhabited Jarvis Island. Tuna products are the main exports, and the main trading partner is the rest of the United States. American Samoa consists of five main islands and two coral atolls. The largest and most populous island is Tutuila, with the Manuʻa Islands, Rose Atoll and Swains Island also included in the territory. All islands except for Swains Island are part of the Samoan Islands, west of the Cook Islands, north of Tonga, and some south of Tokelau. To the west are the islands of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acropora Humilis
''Acropora humilis'', also known as finger coral, is a species of acroporid coral found in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the northern and southwestern Indian Ocean, Australia, the central Indo-Pacific, Japan, southeast Asia, the East China Sea, the central and western Pacific Ocean, the Johnston Atoll and the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It also occurs in the Raja Ampat Islands, Mariana Islands, Palau, and the Pitcairn Islands. Occurring in tropical shallow reefs on upper reef flats and slopes at depths of up to , it was described by Dana in 1846. Description The species is found in digitate colonies of thick tapering branches. The branches contain one or more axial corallites that are large and dome-shaped, and either incipient axial corallites or branchlets at their bases. Its radial corallites are found in two different diameters, the larger of which are organised in rows. It is mainly cream, blue, brown or purple in colour and the branches have cream or blue tips. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digitate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular or irregular, may be smooth or bearing hair, bristles or spines. For more terms describing other aspects of leaves besides their overall morphology see the leaf article. The terms listed here all are supported by technical and professional usage, but they cannot be represented as mandatory or undebatable; readers must use their judgement. Authors often use terms arbitrarily, or coin them to taste, possibly in ignorance of established terms, and it is not always clear whether because of ignorance, or personal preference, or because usages change with time or context, or because of variation between specimens, even specimens from the same plant. For example, whether to call leaves on the same tree "acuminate", "lanceolate", or "linear" could ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acropora Anthocercis
''Acropora anthocercis'' is a species of acroporid coral that was first described by G. Brook in 1893. Found on the top slopes of reefs, it is often in contact with strong waves. The species is rated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a decreasing population covering a large range, but is abundant in some areas such as Queensland. It is also listed under CITES Appendix II. Description ''Acropora anthocercis'' specimens are found in colonies of corymbose formation on rocks. It occurs in a variety of colours; mainly purple, blue, mauve, and grey. The branches are wide and short, and are encrusted in some locations. The radial corallites (on the sides of each branch) are located close to each other, and there are many axian corallites (on the end) on each branch. It is similar to '' Acropora appressa'', '' Acropora desalwii'', and '' Acropora parapharaonis'', and is found on the upper slopes of shallow reefs, so is exposed to strong waves. It can be found at depths of . Dist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acropora Appressa
''Acropora'' is a genus of small polyp stony coral in the phylum Cnidaria. Some of its species are known as table coral, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral. Over 149 species are described. ''Acropora'' species are some of the major reef corals responsible for building the immense calcium carbonate substructure that supports the thin living skin of a reef. Anatomy and distribution Depending on the species and location, ''Acropora'' species may grow as plates or slender or broad branches. Like other corals, ''Acropora'' corals are colonies of individual polyps, which are about 2 mm across and share tissue and a nerve net. The polyps can withdraw back into the coral in response to movement or disturbance by potential predators, but when undisturbed, they protrude slightly. The polyps typically extend further at night to help capture plankton and organic matter from the water. The species are distributed in the Indo-Pacific (over 100 species) and Caribbean (3 species). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
