Staghorn Coral
Acropora millepora
About
This is a branching stony coral native to the western Indo-Pacific. It grows in shallow water and forms small, clumped colonies.
Also known as: Acropora millepora
- Depth
- up to 12 m
How to tell it apart
Many branching Acropora corals look alike, and telling them apart usually needs close study. One clue here is texture: the rim of each corallite sticks up and out, giving the branch surface a rough, scaly feel rather than a smooth one.
Appearance
This coral grows in small clumps with short, tube-shaped branches. Each branch is covered in tiny cup-like cells called corallites, which hold the coral's tiny living polyps. These cells are all about the same size. Colour varies a lot: colonies can be green with orange branch tips, plain green, pale pink, orange, or blue.
Habitat
This coral lives in shallow water, from 2 to 12 m deep. It is mostly found on flat parts of the reef, but also on upper reef slopes and in lagoons. Its range runs across the western and central Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Japan, Indonesia, and Australia.
Did you know?
This coral's free-swimming larvae prefer to settle on vertical surfaces and rock covered in algae. Which spot they pick is shaped by the strain of algae living nearby, even before that algae has entered the coral's own body.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.