Coral Reefs 2019 Postcard Stamps — Elkhorn Coral, Marine Life Series, Pane of 20

Issue facts

Issue Date: March 29, 2019
First Day City: St. Louis, MO
Type of Stamp: Definitive
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA)
Printing Method: Offset, Microprint
Format: Pane of 20

Elkhorn coral

It grows in the clear shallows of the Caribbean and it is named for exactly what it looks like — branching structures resembling elk antlers. Growth is fast for a coral: up to five inches a year, eventually reaching twelve feet across and six feet tall.

The yellow-brown color comes from zooxanthellae, algae living inside the coral's own tissue, which photosynthesize and feed their host. The coral supplements that by catching plankton in its tentacles. In return the colony shelters a whole community — lobsters, parrotfish, shrimp.

Why it is endangered

Elkhorn was once abundant. An outbreak of white band disease in the 1980s cut the population by 97 percent, and coral bleaching, climate change and storm damage have kept the pressure on since. Everything that lives in those branches is affected along with it.

Recovery work has had some success, helped by a useful quirk of the species: a broken branch can reattach to the seafloor and start a new colony. Given time and less pressure, elkhorn is capable of rebuilding itself.

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