Acropora abrotanoides
(Lamarck, 1816)
Description: Colonies are clumps of prostrate branches with fused central branches and upwardly projecting peripheral branches. Branches may be conical to elongate, with or without pointed ends. Branches may have one to several axial corallites. Radial corallites are elongate.
Color: Deep pinkish-brown or greenish-grey.
Habitat: Shallow reef environments, especially reef margins exposed to strong wave action.
Abundance: Sometimes common.
Similar Species: Acropora robusta, which has similar corallites, but is readily distinguished by the presence of thick encrusting bases. See also A. irregularis and A. nobilis
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Extreme development of branches. Pemba Island, Tanzania Photograph: Charlie Veron
A complex of horizontal and vertical branches. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Ed Lovell
Skeletal detail. Radial corallites.
Surface detail of a horizontal branch. Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia Photograph: Charlie Veron