Cauliflower corals  (Pocillopora spp.)

Cauliflower corals face the many threats that are impacting coral reefs globally. It is estimated that 20 percent of the world's coral reefs have already been effectively destroyed and show no immediate prospects of recovery, and 24 percent of the world's reefs are under imminent risk of collapse due to human pressures. These human impacts include poor land management practices that are releasing more sediment, nutrients and pollutants into the oceans and stressing the fragile reef ecosystem. Over fishing has ‘knock-on' effects that results in the increase of macro-algae that can out-compete and smother corals, and fishing using destructive methods physically devastates the reef. A further potential threat is the increase of coral bleaching events, as a result of global climate change (4). Another potential threat is over-harvesting. Pocillopora is one of four genera that constitute the majority of the dead coral trade. Indonesia and Fiji have export quotas for this coral, but in 1997, the amount of Pocillopora traded greatly exceeded the quota, showing a failure to regulate the trade (5). However, Pocillopora is thought to be fairly resilient to collection due to their success at asexual reproduction through fragmentation (5).

Pocillopora corals are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which means that trade in this species should be carefully regulated (1). Pocillopora is one of the genera that can be fairly successively cultivated, due to its fast growth rate and the ease at which it can be propagated by fragmentation. Growing tips are collected from large colonies in the wild, and the fragments are cultivated in the sea suspended from fishing lines until large enough to be sold in the aquarium trade. Whilst the initial collection does have impact on wild populations, cultivation poses less threat than complete wild harvesting (5). Pocillopora corals will form part of the marine community in many marine protected areas (MPAs), which offer coral reefs a degree of protection, and there are many calls from non-governmental organisations for larger MPAs to ensure the persistence of these unique and fascinating ecosystems (4).