Acropora palmerae
Wells, 1954
Description: Colonies are encrusting with or without short, irregularly shaped branches. Colonies seldom exceed one metre across. Axial corallites, if formed, are conspicuous. Radial corallites are mostly rasp-like but are of variable size and face different directions.
Color: Greenish- or pinkish-brown.
Habitat: Reef flats exposed to strong wave action and lagoons.
Abundance: Uncommon.
Similar Species: Like the encrusting base of A. robusta but does not form large branches. Small colonies of these species may be inseparable. See also A. pinguis, which may also be encrusting but forms thick tapered branches.
Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic references: Wells (1954), Veron and Wallace (1984), Wallace (1999). Identification guide: Veron (1986).
A solid plate. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Neville Coleman
Surface detail. Maldive Islands Photograph: Neville Coleman
Branches are small, if they are developed at all. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Dave Fisk
Skeletal detail. Radial corallites on a solid basal plate.