Acropora cardenae Wells, 1985

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 : 30

Acropora cardenae Wells, 1985

( Fig. 13 )

Acropora cardenae Wells, 1985: 338 , figs 1–5.

Type locality. Bowl Reef, Great Barrier Reef (holotype NMNH-SI).

MTQ Holdings. G63658–59 Hydrographer’s Passage, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Species group: elegans.

Description. Colony outline: indeterminate, predominantly arborescent. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length: 2 5–50 mm; diameter: <2.5 mm, axial/radial ratio: 50/50 axial/radial, terete; radial crowding: not touching; axial/radial ratio: <1:10. Axial corallites: two synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 1.5 mm; inner diameter unrecorded; primary septa to 1/3 R. Radial corallites: small; two synapticular rings; one size or graded; inner wall developed; shape: tubular; openings: oval-rounded; primary septa to 1/3 R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: dense spinules; spinule shape: elaborate.

Taxonomic note. This species, described from specimens dredged from 55 to 120 m deep, was regarded as rare until seen in abundance in photographs taken from a remotely operated vehicle on the Great Barrier Reef (Bridge et al. 2012).

Further literature. Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 13. Acropora cardenae, Hydrographer’s Passage, Great Barrier Reef, Australia,, 2010 (photo: T. Bridge). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.