While the world's coral reefs are threatened, researchers are succeeding in reproducing in the laboratory species highly endangered

As part of coral reef conservation efforts, researchers at the Florida Aquarium Center for Conservation have succeeded in breeding a highly threatened species of coral from the Atlantic Pillar, tribune reports.

"This incredible advancement was the first time we spawned Atlantic corals in a lab that we have owned for more than a year in our greenhouses," said Amber Whittle, director of conservation of l & # 39; aquarium.

The center succeeded in imitating the ideal habitat of the species with sunrises, sunsets and moon phases that allowed spawning. The breakthrough of the researchers will contribute to efforts to save the "Great Barrier Reef of the United States" off the coast of Florida.

Coral reefs made up of generations of coral polyps are very sensitive to climate change and are rapidly disappearing from the seas around the world. Corals can tolerate a very small temperature range and other factors such as salinity and depth, but provide a refuge for thousands of other marine species.