“I’m not sure they make that claim, but I haven’t seen that before in the literature.” Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), found in reefs throughout the Caribbean coast, grows in long, fractal-like ...

Home to silky sharks, myriad fish, and the critically endangered elkhorn coral, the reef teems with life and vibrancy. This story appears in the November 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.

In the summer of 1983, hundreds of square meters of graceful elkhorn coral on the floor of the Caribbean Sea began collapsing from disease and became overrun by a green carpet of algae. Within a few ...

Yet due to global warming, already-delicate coral reefs throughout the Caribbean and along the coast of Florida are vanishing at unprecedented rates. Thanks to a scientific petition the Center ...

Instead, they prioritized staghorn coral, which resemble skinny deer antlers, and elkhorn coral, which look like thick moose antlers. These corals can grow quickly and can asexually form new ...

That’s how typical reef-building corals, like the iconic elkhorn and staghorn species, with their antler-like appearance, produce offspring. That’s how they’ve been doing it for millions of ...

These corals – species with rigid skeletons, such as elkhorn and brain corals – are the architects of these ecosystems, providing the foundations for coral reef communities. Coral reefs perform many ...

Yet due to global warming, already-delicate coral reefs throughout the Caribbean and along the coast of Florida are vanishing at unprecedented rates. Thanks to a scientific petition the Center ...