Nine species of Caribbean corals are among the 66 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week proposed to list under the federal Endangered Species Act [see previous post, Agency Proposes Protections for 66 Coral Species]. Most of the 66 corals are in the Pacific Ocean, but NOAA proposed that seven Caribbean corals be included on the endangered list and two on the threatened list.

Two of the seven are elkhorn and staghorn corals, which are already on the threatened list but NOAA wants them reclassified as endangered. Other species proposed for the endangered list include pillar coral, boulder star coral, mountainous star coral, star coral and rough cactus coral.

Those proposed for the threatened list include Lamarck’s sheet coral and elliptical star coral.

For original article, see http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2012/12/04/noaa-proposes-list-nine-caribbean-corals-endangered-list

Photo from http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/11-us-species-endangered-by-climate-change/elkhorn-coral