EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

November 26, 2008 (73 FR 72210). This habitat serves as substrate of suitable quality and
availability, in water depths from the mean high water line to 98 feet (except along some areas of
Florida, where 6 foot contour is the shoreward limit), to support successful larval settlement,
recruitment, and reattachment of fragments. Four specific areas are proposed for designation:
the Florida unit, which comprises approximately 1,329 square miles of marine habitat; the Puerto
Rico unit, which comprises approximately 1,383 square miles of marine habitat; the St. John/St.
Thomas unit, which comprises approximately 121 square miles of marine habitat; and the St.
Croix unit, which comprises approximately 126 square miles of marine habitat. NMFS proposes
to exclude one military site, comprising approximately 47 square miles, because of national
security impacts. The lone PCE identified thus far is natural consolidated hard substrate or dead
coral skeleton that are free from fleshy or turf macroalgae cover and sediment cover. This feature
is essential to the conservation of these two species because of the extremely limited recruitment
currently being observed and the need for this species to have habitat to recruit into.
Staghorn coral
Description of the species
Although they resemble plants, staghorn coral is a colony of small shelled animals that
collaboratively form staghorn-antler-like colonies, with cylindrical, straight or slightly curved
diverging branches. Branches are 0.1 inch to 0.6 inch in diameter and rarely may grow back
together. Colonies in turbulent water are smaller than in calm water, with greater branch density.
Branching is irregular and secondary branches form at 60 to 90 degree angles relative to a
primary branch. Prominent axial corallites (branches of radial arms of calcium carbonate) form
at branch tips; bract-like corallites radiate symmetrically around branches. Individual colonies
are up to 5 feet across and typically form monospecific thickets. Tissue color ranges from
golden yellow to medium brown, with little or no color near the growing branch tips. The
colony may or may not be firmly attached to the sea floor.
Distribution
Staghorn coral is found widely in the Caribbean, including in the Florida Keys, Abaco Island
(The Bahamas), Alacran Reef, Mexico, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, US Virgin
Islands, Navassa, and throughout the West Indies (Goreau 1959, Kornicker and Boyd 1962, Storr
1964, Scatterday 1974, Jaap 1984, Dustan and Halas 1987, NMFS 2006a). However, abundance
within the distribution is reduced, largely due to water temperature and quality issues.
Growth and reproduction
Staghorn corals employ both sexual and asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction is
accomplished by releasing sperm and egg during spawning events (Szmant 1986). Colonies are
referred to as simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning that a given colony contains both female
and male reproductive sex organs. Spawning events are relatively short, with gametes released
only a few nights during July, August, and/or September. In some populations, spawning is
synchronous after a full moon. Annual egg production in Puerto Rico was estimated to be 3,870
to 5,100 eggs per square inch of living coral tissue (Szmant 1986). Once fertilization occurs,
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