Acropora sarmentosa
Brook, 1892
Description: Colonies have prostrate main branches with bottlebrush-like secondary branching producing lobed or cushion-like colonies. Axial corallites are large and rounded. Radial corallites are short, with thick walls.
Color: Dull greenish-grey or brown with pale brown or orange branch tips.
Habitat: Upper reef slopes and lagoons.
Abundance: Common.
Similar Species: Acropora samoensis, which has shorter branches and distinctive axial corallites. See also A. digitifera.
Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic references: Veron and Wallace (1984), Wallace (1999). Identification guides: Veron (1986), Nishihira and Veron (1995).
Forming a compact clump. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Mary Stafford-Smith
Corallite detail. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Valerie Taylor
Branch tips. Papua New Guinea Photograph: Charlie Veron
Skeletal detail. Axial and radial corallites.