Acropora caroliniana Nemenzo, 1976

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 : 34

Acropora caroliniana Nemenzo, 1976

( Fig. 15 )

Acropora caroliniana Nemenzo, 1976: 231 , fig. 1.

Type locality. Philippines (holotype MSI-UP).

MTQ Holdings. Mayotte: G63303–04, G63425; Maldives: G60009, G60293, G60295, G60298, G60300, G60303, G60312–13; Malaysia: G53883–85 Sabah; Indonesia: G51190, G51779 Bali; G51783–85 Tukangbesi Islands; G48877 Flores; G48878, G49026, G50453, G58646 Kalimantan; G48265, G48864–74, G48876, G50405–10, G51189, G55417–21, G55453–54, G55460, G57004, G57007, G59659 Sulawesi; G51780–82 Halmahera; Australia: G31094–101, G57021–24, G58299– 300, G63913–16 Great Barrier Reef; Philippines: G52313; Papua New Guinea: G45792, G53501–08; Micronesia: G59296, G62530–34, G62564 Pohnpei; Solomon Is.: G58996.

Species group: loripes.

Description. Colony outline: determinate, predominantly caespito-corymbose. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length: <25 mm; diameter: 5.0–9.9 mm, 50/50 axial/radial, terete; radial crowding: not touching; axial/radial ratio: <1:10. Axial corallites: two synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 1.7–3.5 mm; inner diameter 0.6–1.0 mm; primary septa to 2/3 R. Radial corallites: medium; two synapticular rings; one size or graded; inner wall developed; shape: appressed tubular; openings: ovalrounded; primary septa to ¼ R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: dense spinules; spinule shape: elaborate.

Taxonomic note. The page and figure numbers for for the original description of this species were incorrectly given in Wallace (1999). The type specimen is a holotype by monotypy. The MTQ records extend the range of this species considerably westwards in the Indian Ocean.

Further literature. Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Dai & Horng (2009), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 15. Acropora caroliniana, G63304, Mayotte, East Indian Ocean 2010 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.