[Coral-List] 82 Corals Status Review under the US Endangered Species Act

Ernesto Weil eweil at caribe.net
Tue Jun 26 12:02:06 EDT 2012


Here in Puerto Rico, Millepora populations went down significantly after two
significant bleaching events, the 2005 
being the most detrimental, which also affected populations in Grenada,
Cayman, V. Islands, and many other north and eastern Caribbean localities.
Both M. alcicornis and M. complanata suffered high mortality in moost reefs
of La Parguera, mostly in their preferred shallow habitats. One particular
species, M. squarrosa, the box fire coral, completely disappeared from
several fringing reefs. M. alcicornis and M. complanata, and the crustose
ecomorph that overgrows and kills octocorals (whatever that is) are slowly
coming back. However, after 6 years of surveys, I have only seen one tiny
colony of M. squarrosa recently.

EW   



-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Szmant, Alina
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 5:59 PM
To: Douglas Fenner; Eugene Shinn; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] 82 Corals Status Review under the US Endangered
Species Act

Millepora complanata and M. alcicornis are doing exceeding well down here in
Curacao...healthy, nice color and everywhere.  Maybe just get permission to
reintroduce it to rest of Caribbean from propagules.  But first you need to
fix whatever problem led to their demise in the first place.  If it's global
warming, fat chance!

*************************************************************************
Dr. Alina M. Szmant
Professor of Marine Biology
Center for Marine Science and Dept of Biology and Marine Biology University
of North Carolina Wilmington
5600 Marvin Moss Ln
Wilmington NC 28409 USA
tel:  910-962-2362  fax: 910-962-2410  cell: 910-200-3913
http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
*******************************************************


-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Douglas Fenner
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 5:11 PM
To: Eugene Shinn; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] 82 Corals Status Review under the US Endangered
Species Act

Gene,
    I've been told that Millepora grows like a weed in aquaria, and that if
people had realized the problem, they could have been grown in aquaria and
the species saved.  Zoos do that sort of thing for vertebrates all the
time.  I remember reading the story of the Phoenix, Arizona, zoo, which
gathered the last half dozen or so Arabian Oryx left in the entire world,
and started a captive breeding program.  They brought them back from the
brink of extinction by producing many calves.  Likewise, Whooping Cranes
have also been brought back from the brink of extinction by captive breeding
programs.  Wikipedia has these two stories. There are lots more success
stories.   I've read that no species that has been declared under the US
Endangered Species Act has gone extinct, but one of the papers I had in my
references in my earlier message documented that hundreds have gone extinct
while waiting for government to make a decision on whether to list  them. 
The Endangered Species Act makes a difference.  It certainly isn't perfect. 
Name anything that is.  The alternative is grim, as extinction is forever.  
   Cheers,  Doug



________________________________
 From: Eugene Shinn <eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 2:55 AM
Subject: [Coral-List] 82 Corals Status Review under the US Endangered
Species Act
 
Thanks Doug, I wonder if those Millipora species had been listed back in the
1980s would they be living today? Gene
-- 


No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
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