Acropora listeri (Brook, 1893)

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 : 110

Acropora listeri (Brook, 1893)

( Fig. 53 )

Madrepora listeri Brook, 1893: 53 , pl. 30 figs C–D.

Acropora diomedeae Vaughan, 1906: 69 , pl. 7 figs l, 1a pl. 8 figs 2–3.

Type locality. Tongatabu (Tonga) (holotype NHM). MTQ Holdings. Red Sea: G55250–52, G58869–70 Saudi Arabia; Mauritius: G39786, G54461; Chagos: G51760; Thailand: G56012–17, G59413, G59414; Indonesia: G58688 Sumatra; G54546 Tukangbesi Islands; G53871 Kalimantan; G35527, G49345–46, G58861 Sulawesi; G51744–45, G53683 Halmahera; G47003 Banda Sea; Australia: G64307 West; G30983, G34154, G39942, G54830, G57521, G58906 Great Barrier Reef; G27792, G27795, G27801, G58463, G62957 South–East; G27794 Coral Sea; South China Sea: G52289; Taiwan: G35493–94, G47595; Philippines: G32819, G45851; Palau: G56903; Guam: G36601–02; Papua New Guinea: G53413; Louisiade Archipelago: G54408; Micronesia: G40725, G40761 Yap; G62547 Pohnpei; Solomon Is.: G52121; New Caledonia: G34961, G34999, G58702; Chesterfield Atoll: G27793, G27796–98, G31150, G38617, G38621–23; Marshall Is.: G33201; Samoa: G34718, G34720, G34761, G36629, G36643, G41272; Line Is.: G59695, G59699; French Polynesia: G53573–74, G58629; Tahiti: G54698; Pitcairn Is.: G35757.

Species group: robusta .

Description. Colony outline: determinate, predominantly corymbose. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length: 2 5–50 mm; diameter:>19.9 mm, axial-dominated, tapering; radial crowding: most touching; axial/radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: two synapticular rings; porous; outer diameter 1.3–4.0 mm; inner diameter 0.6–1.0 mm; primary septa to 2/3 R. Radial corallites: large; two synapticular rings; two sizes; inner wall developed; shape: tubular; openings: dimidiate; primary septa to 2/3 R. Coenosteum: different on and between radials: between radials: reticulate, on radials: costate; spinule shape: single point.

Taxonomic note. In Wallace (1999), A. diomedeae was accidentally included as a synonym of A. nasuta as well as A. listeri. After re-examination of the type specimen (by C. Wallace.), this species is removed from the synonymy of A. nasuta and confirmed as a synonym of A. listeri.

Further literature: Nishihira & Veron (1995), Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Pillay et al. (2002), Dai & Horng (2009).

Figures

FIG. 53. Acropora listeri, Pohnpei, Micronesia, 2009 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.