Millepora fire coral (no English common name)
Millepora tenera
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 210729, checked 2026-10-31). WoRMS status: nomen novum (still the name in use).
Possibly present in the Maldives
- English
- Millepora fire coral (no English common name)
- Scientific
- Millepora tenera
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Depth and habitat
- Reef-associated, recorded from 2 to 15 m
- IUCN status
- EN · EndangeredEndangered (EN), assessed 2022CITES Appendix II
- Record in the Maldives
- Possibly present
Description
A fire coral with thin, upright, branching plates or fronds that divide at their tips. The surface is smooth and yellow-brown, often with pale edges. It grows on reef flats and shallow slopes. Brushing against it causes a painful sting. It is listed on CITES Appendix II.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=2). Only one kind of evidence was found, so it is listed as possibly present. Fire corals are common on shallow Maldivian reefs, but most are identified only to genus; species-level Maldives records are museum specimens.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Millepora-tenera.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=210729
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Millepora_tenera.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.