Acropora pulchra (Brook, 1891)

Wallace, Carden C., Done, Barbara J. & Muir, Paul R., 2012, Revision and catalogue of worldwide staghorn corals Acropora and Isopora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) in the Museum of Tropical Queensland, Memoirs of the Queensland Museu Nature 57, pp. 1-258 : 162

Acropora pulchra (Brook, 1891)

( Fig. 79 )

Madrepora pulchra Brook, 1891: 452 ; 1893: 44, pl. 28 figs A–C.

Type locality. Keeling Island (Cocos Keeling) (holotype NHM).

MTQ Holdings. Seychelles: G47930, G59561; Rodriguez: G33216; Maldives: G59760–61, G59767, G59920, G61067; Sri Lanka: G55579, G56343–44; Thailand: G32778, G59401; Malaysia: G52614 mainland and islands; G53932 Sabah; Indonesia: G32849 Java; G46703, G50531, G59181 Bali; G49295 Alor; G47487 Lombok; G50742–44 Seribu Is; G50774, G62721 Ambon; G48624 Flores; G39807, G49299–300 Kalimantan; G35810, G47250–52, G47539, G47543, G49296–98, G50984–85, G55422–24 Sulawesi; G51725–29, G51746–47 Halmahera; G46844, G58946 Banda Sea; Australia: G40791, G40848, G55059–61, G61082, G61682 West; G54739 North; G27016, G27023, G27059–60, G28256–57, G28263–64, G28884, G28886–87, G28889–91, G28893, G32466–67, G35020, G37358–59, G37392–93, G39773, G40898–99, G40921–22, G40995, G46033–35, G47294, G47644–50, G48355–57, G48366, G48373–74, G48378, G52058, G56505–0 6, G57516, G58038, G58224–25, G58269, G58278, G58380, G59020, G62923–28, G64677 Great Barrier Reef; G28259, G28265, G28888, G58492, G58851–52, G58858, G62956, G62963 South-East; G28261, G28883, G33500, G33749 Coral Sea; Japan: G38038, G38061; Taiwan: G45785, G47618, G58026–27; Guam: G40734; Papua New Guinea: G35918, G52945, G53095–04, G53557 North: G40848 Timor Sea; Micronesia: G40762 Yap; G40805, G40808, G62478 Pohnpei; G62728–29 Kosrae; Solomon Is.: G52599, G58584; New Caledonia: G33100, G34968, G35003, G35010; Marshall Is.: G33149, G57233; Fiji: G40935; Samoa: G33317, G34873, G41179–89; French Polynesia: G58654; Tahiti: G54693. Species group: aspera .

Description. Colony outline: indeterminate, predominantly arborescent. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length:>100 mm; diameter: 10.0–19.9 mm, axial-dominated, terete; radial crowding: most touching; axial/radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: three synapticular rings; porous; outer diameter 1.8–3.5 mm; inner diameter 0.6–1.2 mm; primary septa to 2/3 R. Radial corallites: medium; two synapticular rings; two sizes; inner wall not developed; shape: dimidiate/lipped; openings: horizontal lip; primary septa to 2/3 R. Coenosteum: different on and between radials: between radials: reticulate, on radials: costate; spinule shape: single point.

Further literature. Nishihira & Veron (1995), Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Dai & Horng (2009).

Figures

FIG. 79. Acropora pulchra, G61067 Vabbinfaru I., N. Male Atoll, Maldives, 2006 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.