Acropora, Oken, 1815

Sola, Erwan, Silva, Isabel Marques da & Glassom, David, 2015, An annotated and illustrated checklist of species of the coral genus Acropora (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) from Vamizi Island, Mozambique, African Invertebrates 56 (3), pp. 807-807 : 837-839

Acropora cf. subulata (Dana, 1846)

Fig. 29

Colony growth form: Tabular with delicate branches; horizontally spreading branches are highly ramified and give off small upright branchlets; tables can be more than 2 m across. Axial corallites: Outer diameter 1.9–2.2 mm; inner diameter 0.9–1.0 mm; exsert, sometimes slightly elongated; primary septa present but reduced and consisting of spines, usually no secondary septa.

Radial corallites: Labellate or dimidiate with lower lip flaring or eXtending outward; upper wall is absent; septal development is variable but generally incomplete. Radial corallites on horizontal braches are mostly immersed, especially on undersurface.

Coenosteum: Lines of simple spinules; may appear slightly costate on radial corallites. Remarks: This specimen shared characters with different species, making this identification challenging. The shape of corallites is similar to those of Acropora hyacinthus (Dana, 1846), but the branching pattern of the latter is very different, with densely arranged upright branchlets and much more crowded radial corallites ( Wallace 1999). The corallum also has a crumbly teXture. It is defined here as A. subuluta rather than Acropora cytherea because the latter typically has multiple axial corallites, radials with a more extended lower wall, and a costate coenosteum, while the present species has less-developed radial corallites and a more reticulate coenosteum with clear spinules.

Figures

Fig.29. Acropora cf. subulata.Specimen number:VAM4.(A) live colony; (B) branch fragment; (C); radial corallites (D) axial corallite.