According to Veron et al. (2016), this species is a synonym of Pavona duerdeni. It is valid according to the WoRMS online database (accessed February 2023).

Due to taxonomic confusion, the distribution of this species is questionable. Little is known on its distribution, population, habitats and potential threats; therefore, it is listed as Data Deficient.

If valid, this species is known from the type locality in the Nicobar Islands, India (Scheer and Pillai 1974) and in the eastern tropical Pacific from Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Gulf of Chiriquí in Panama (Cortés and Guzmán 1998, Reyes-Bonilla 2002, Guzmán et al. unpublished data, final report 2008). The distribution is unknown due to taxonomic uncertainty among field researchers.

The depth range is 0-20 m.

Glynn and Ault (2000) classified this species as rare in Costa Rica and consider it should be considered as an endangered species since the known populations consist of ten or fewer colonies. According to H. Guzmán (pers. comm. 2008), this is not a common species that is known from 15 sites in the Gulf of Chiriquí, Panama and at least one site (Cocos Island) in Costa Rica.

This species occurs at shallow depths on rocky reef environments (H. Guzmán pers. comm. 2008). 

The age at first maturity of most reef-building corals is typically three to eight years (Wallace 1999). Based on this, we infer that the average age of mature individuals of this species is greater than eight years. Based on average sizes and growth rates, we also infer that the average length of one generation is 10 years. Longevity is not known, but is likely to be greater than 10 years. Therefore, any population decline rates estimated for the purposes of this Red List assessment are measured over a time period of 30 years.

El Niño and climate change are presumably threats to this species. According to Glynn (1997), species that are rare (such as this species) are vulnerable to extinction from future environmental disturbances, such as ENSO events. Bryant et al. (1998), based on four anthropogenic factors (coastal development, overexploitation and destructive fishing practice, inland pollution and erosion, and marine pollution), estimated a high threat to coral reefs in the coast of Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. High levels of siltation caused by accelerated coastal erosion have degraded coral reefs in Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador (Glynn 2001).

Other threats include small colony size, slow skeletal growth, susceptibility to Acanthaster planci predation (COTS), and infrequent asexual fragmentation (Glynn et al. 2000). Crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) (Acanthaster planci) are found throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the Red Sea. These starfish are voracious predators of reef-building corals, with a preference for branching and tabular corals such as Acropora species. Populations of the crown-of-thorns starfish have greatly increased since the 1970s and have been known to wipe out large areas of coral reef habitat. Increased breakouts of COTS has become a major threat to some species, and have contributed to the overall decline and reef destruction in the Indo-Pacific region. The effects of such an outbreak include the reduction of abundance and surface cover of living coral, reduction of species diversity and composition, and overall reduction in habitat area.

In general, the major threat to corals is global climate change, in particular, temperature extremes leading to bleaching and increased susceptibility to disease, increased severity of ENSO events and storms, and ocean acidification.

Coral disease has emerged as a serious threat to coral reefs worldwide with increases in numbers of diseases, coral species affected, and geographic extent (Ward et al. 2004, Sutherland et al. 2004, Sokolow et al. 2009). Outbreaks of coral diseases have damaged coral reefs worldwide with the most widespread, virulent, and longest running coral disease outbreak currently occurring on the Florida Reef Tract and throughout the Caribbean. The disease, stony coral tissue loss disease, has been ongoing since 2014 (Precht et al. 2016) and has devastated affected reefs along Florida (Walton et al. 2018, Williams et al. 2021) and throughout the Caribbean (Alvarez-Filip et al. 2019, Kramer et al. 2019). Numerous disease outbreaks have also occurred in the Indo-Pacific (Willis et al. 2004, Aeby et al. 2011; 2016), Indian Ocean (Raj et al. 2016) and Persian Gulf (Howells et al. 2020). Escalating anthropogenic stressors combined with the threats associated with global climate change of increases in coral disease, frequency and duration of coral bleaching and ocean acidification place coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific at high risk of collapse. 

Localized threats to corals include fisheries, human development (industry, settlement, tourism, and transportation), changes in native species dynamics (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), invasive species (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), dynamite fishing, chemical fishing, pollution from agriculture and industry, domestic pollution, sedimentation, and human recreation and tourism activities. The severity of these combined threats to the global population of each individual species is not known.

All stony corals are listed on CITES Appendix II. Parts of the species’ range overlaps with Marine Protected Areas.

Recommended measures for conserving this species include research in taxonomy, population, abundance and trends, ecology and habitat status, threats and resilience to threats, restoration action; identification, establishment and management of new protected areas; expansion of protected areas; recovery management; and disease, pathogen and parasite management. Artificial propagation and techniques such as cryo-preservation of gametes may become important for conserving coral biodiversity.

Taxonomic research is needed.