Astreopora expansa
Brüggemann, 1877
Description: Colonies are flat bifacial plates arranged in tiers or whorls. Corallites are mostly inclined on the colony surface. Coenosteum papillae are fine.
Color: Brown, pink or dark green, usually with pale margins.
Habitat: Shallow reef environments.
Abundance: Usually uncommon but conspicuous.
Similar Species: Astreopora myriophthalma on lower reef slopes may become laminar but A. expansa is usually distinctive.
Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic reference: Lamberts (1982). Identification guides: Veron (1986), Nishihira and Veron (1995) (both as A. explanata).
Tiered plates with slightly conical corallites. Houtman Abrolhos Islands, south-west Australia Photograph: Ed Lovell
Forming tiers of flat laminae. Houtman Abrolhos Islands, south-west Australia Photograph: Ed Lovell
Laminae are sometimes thin in protected habitats. Flores, Indonesia Photograph: Charlie Veron
Plate growing in an exposed habitat. Zanzibar, Tanzania Photograph: Charlie Veron
Skeletal detail. Corallites and coenosteum.