Acropora austera (Dana, 1846)

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 : 22

Acropora austera (Dana, 1846)

( Fig. 9 )

Madrepora austera Dana, 1846: 478 .

Acropora parahemprichii Veron, 2000 , vol. 1: 274; 2002: 49, figs 88–92.

Type locality. not recorded (holotype YPM).

MTQ Holdings. G55797 HOLOTYPE of A. parahemprichii from Bali, Indonesia; Red Sea: G58875 Saudi Arabia; G54708 Yemen; Kenya: G35557–58; South Africa: G41039; Comoros: G55087–89; Mayotte: G63189–94, G63272–74, G63363; Seychelles: G47925–28, G49215, G49217–18, G51792, G51886–87, G59566; La R é union: G54890; Mauritius: G35787, G39784, G51788–91, G51793–97, G54464–66, G54784, G54903 Maldives: G51999, G52067–70, G53004–0 9, G59844–51, G60320, G60333–34, G60341, G60354, G60357, G60379; Chagos: G51761, G51878; Thailand: G32798, G37298, G52635– 36, G53655, G54837, G55999, G56073, G56114, G56484–91, G59425, G59428, G61747, G63002; Malaysia: G57659 Indonesia: G50297–98, G50374 Sumatra; G32843 Java; G50309, G53674 Bali; G50955–59 Nusa Tenggara; G50303–08, G50375, G53849–51, G59079 Alor; G47864, G47879 Lombok; G51939 Tukangbesi Islands; G50754– 58 Seribu Is; G50299–300, G54536, G59077 Flores; G50313–16, G50380–81, G53676, G59055 Kalimantan; G53677 Semau; G47858–62, G47868–78, G48074, G50310–12, G50376–79, G50762, G51920–21, G53675, G53679, G55458, G59048 Sulawesi; G51934–38 Molucca Sea; G51922–33, G53678, G54302, G54303 Halmahera; G47118–22, G47863, G47865–67, G47880, G53763, G53764 Banda Sea; G50301–02, G48762, G48763, G48915, G52658, G52669, G52670 Australia: G48762–63, G48915, G52658, G52669–70, G64339 West; G27027, G27851–53, G27856–61, G27863, G27865–66, G27869, G27872, G27875–77, G27977, G28575, G28577, G28813, G28816, G29083, G29085–88, G29090–92, G29152–57, G29160–62, G29164, G29166–67, G29299–300, G29303, G29306–07, G29982, G29984, G29986, G29988–95, G29997–30001, G30042, G30047–52, G30118, G30475–76, G30480, G30482, G30485–86, G30864, G30869, G30872, G30919– 20, G30922–25, G30927–28, G30930–35, G30937–40, G30942–44, G30946, G30948–53, G31151, G34232, G46429, G48308, G48369, G48490, G51096, G55482, G55513, G56381, G56383, G57524, G57530, G58525, G60522, G61769, G64751 Great Barrier Reef; G14845, G27849–50, G27855, G27862, G27868, G29093–94, G29110, G29159, G29163, G30041, G30044–46, G30053– 54, G31711, G48551, G58496, G61776 South–East; G27976, G28576, G28814, G30477, G30481, G30865, G33463, G39832, G39850, G39853, G57617, G57626, G57628, G57640 Coral Sea; South China Sea: G46815–17, G52228–29, G52309, G52310; Japan:

G38026, G38029, G47779; Taiwan: G35497, G45788, G45806, G45944, G47584, G47597–98; Philippines: G32820, G41556, G41694, G52321–25; Palau: G56866; Guam: G36603, G53650–51; Papua New Guinea: G35830, G52813–16, G54309, G56803–05; Micronesia: G40756, G40817, G59290, G62684 Pohnpei; G41085, G62758 Kosrae; Solomon Is.: G52119; New Caledonia: G34982, G54746, G58698, G58743–44; Chesterfield Atoll: G27870–71, G27873–74, G28574, G28815, G28817–18, G29158, G29983, G29987, G29996, G30474, G30478–79, G30484–84, G30863, G30866–68, G30870–71, G30873–75, G35686–87, G51295; Marshall Is.: G33124, G37987, G56195–96, G57139–53, G57326–28; Kiribati: G59677; Tuvalu: G52751; Samoa: G34754, G34756–60, G34764–66, G35603, G38985, G41273, G41282, G54265, G56030, G56032; Niue: G35808–09, G54501–04; Cook Is.: G35706, G35714, G35738, G35852, G35938, G35949; French Polynesia: G35540, G44038–39, G58622–23, G58630–31, G58652–53, G58657; Tahiti: G54694; Tuamotu Archipelago: G32866; Austral Is.: G35794– 97 Pitcairn Is.: G54604–05.

Species group: rudis.

Description. Colony outline: indeterminate, predominantly arborescent. Branches: tertiary branching order present; length: 50–100 mm; diameter: 10.0–19.9 mm, axial-dominated, tapering; radial crowding: some touching; axial/ radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: three synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 2.2–3.8 mm; inner diameter 0.6–1.5 mm; primary septa to ¾ R. Radial corallites: large; three synapticular rings; one size or graded; inner wall developed; shape: rounded tubular; openings: square; primary septa to 1/3 R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: dense spinules; spinule shape: elaborate.

Taxonomic note. Acropora parahemprichii is placed in synonymy with A. austera following comparison of the holotype with the following specimens: G 2785 7 from Great Barrier Reef, Australia; G50313 from Kalimantan, Indonesia. Further literature. Nishihira & Veron (1995), Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Pillay et al. (2002), Dai & Horng (2009), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 9. Acropora austera, G59850, Ari Atoll, Maldives, 2006 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records.