Acropora gemmifera (Brook, 1892)

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 : 72

Acropora gemmifera (Brook, 1892)

( Fig. 34 )

Madrepora gemmifera Brook, 1892: 457 ; 1893: 142, pl. 21.

Madrepora australis Brook, 1892: 453 ; 1893: 155, pl. 23 fig. C.

Madrepora scherzeriana Brüggemann, 1877: 397 .

Type locality. Rocky Island Great Barrier Reef (lectotype NHM).

MTQ Holdings. Red Sea: G57774 Egypt; G55233–34 Saudi Arabia; Kenya: G58944; Mayotte: G63282; Seychelles: G47910, G59504, G59506; Rodriguez: G33224; Maldives: G52003, G52086, G59811–12, G59922, G60306, G60310, G60311; Indonesia: G58691, G47175–76, G48607–0 9, G50390 Sumatra; G49879 Bali; G50893–94 Nusa Tenggara; G48613–15 Alor; G47485 Lombok; G35968 Maluku; G51534–36, G51668 Tukangbesi Islands; G36225, G47033, G47049, G50831–32 Ambon; G48610–12, G48616, G49634 Flores; G49031–36, G49877–78 Kalimantan; G47255–67, G47972, G49027–30, G50533, G51521–22, G51537, G51590, G56686–90 Sulawesi; G51524, G51532–33, G51591–92, G51599 Molucca Sea; G51525–31, G51593–98, G51918 Halmahera; G47043, G47045–48 Banda Sea; Australia: G36795, G40786, G40800–1, G41149, G60620, G60626, G60654 West; G27025, G27058, G27401–3, G27405–12, G27414–20, G27422, G27425–42, G27444–48, G29741–42, G30234, G30237–46, G31141, G31143–45, G35381, G40908, G46625, G48293, G48300, G48370, G49230, G56841, G56843, G58373, G62286, G62914–22, G63902 Great Barrier Reef; G27443, G31142, G58434 South–East; G27423, G30236, G33436, G33492, G33499, G33517, G49078–79, G63813 Coral Sea; South China Sea: G48349, G49077; Japan: G47789; Taiwan: G45843, G47592; Philippines: G32810, G49070–76; Palau: G56864, G56902; Guam: G49050; Papua New Guinea: G35652, G35829, G53054–60, G53078, G53258–61, G53554; G56691–95; Louisiade Archipelago: G33356; Micronesia: G41166–67 Yap; G37999 Chuuk; G41169, G41241, G62415–17, G62419–20, G62522–23, G63233–34 Pohnpei; Solomon Is.: G52590–92, G56696– 700, G57093; New Caledonia: G40884, G58740; Chesterfield Atoll: G30233, G38165; Marshall Is.: G56197, G56213; Kiribati: G54797; Fiji: G40933, G40936, G40946; Samoa: G34719, G34725, G34729, G34876, G41210–29, G41285, G43469, G49060; Niue: G36109; Cook Is.: G35866, G36125, G53908; Austral Is.: G36123.

Species group: humilis .

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: some touching; axial/radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: greater than three synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 2.8–4.2 mm; inner diameter 1.0–1.6 mm; primary septa to ¾ R. Radial corallites: large; greater than three synapticular rings; two sizes; inner wall developed; shape: tubular; openings: dimidiate; primary septa to ¾ R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: reticulo-costate; spinule shape: elaborate.

Further literature. Nishihira & Veron (1995), Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Veron (2 0 0 0), Wolstenholme et al. 2003, Dai & Horng (2009), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 34. Acropora gemmifera, Orpheus Is., North Queensland, 2008 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.