Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Fuzzy table coral
No photo available
Photo: NPS photo - Larry Basch. Identified by Charles Birkeland / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (view on Wikimedia Commons)Coral photo: species not verifiable from image.

Fuzzy table coral

Acropora paniculata

Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 207008, checked 2026-10-31).

English
Fuzzy table coral
Scientific
Acropora paniculata
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Hard corals
Family
Acroporidae (staghorn, table and plate corals)
Depth and habitat
Reef-associated
IUCN status
EN · EndangeredEndangered (EN), assessed 2023CITES Appendix II

Description

An Acropora coral: the largest and most varied genus of reef-building corals, forming branches, bushes, tables, plates and fingers. Each branch ends in a single larger cup with many small cups along its sides. Acropora grow fast and are among the first corals to die in marine heatwaves. It is told apart from related species only by close examination of the skeleton.

In the Maldives

Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=22, QM); literature records via OBIS (Hexacorallians of the World (Fautin 2013)).

Sources

Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.