Acropora vaughani Wells, 1954

Wallace, Carden C., Done, Barbara J. & Muir, Paul R., 2012, Revision and catalogue of worldwide staghorn corals Acropora and Isopora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) in the Museum of Tropical Queensland, Memoirs of the Queensland Museu Nature 57, pp. 1-258 : 230

Acropora vaughani Wells, 1954

( Fig. 113 )

Acropora vaughani Wells, 1954: 416 , pl. 105 fig. 1, pl. 106 figs 1–8, pl. 107 figs 2–6.

Type locality. Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands (holotype NMNH-SI).

MTQ Holdings. Red Sea: G55270, G58871 Saudi Arabia; G51940–43, G54857, G54880–83, G54891, G59155 Yemen; Comoros: G55090; Mayotte: G63430–31, G63444–52; Seychelles: G47955; Mauritius: G54462; Maldives: G60287; Thailand: G36138, G52648–49, G56075, G63003; Malaysia: G52625, G59150 mainland and islands; G41136 Sabah; Indonesia: G32852 Java; G53703 Bali; G54538 Kalimantan; G48344, G50699–01, G50822, G50937, G53700–02, G53869, G55518–19, G56018, G56616 Sulawesi; G53934–36 Halmahera; G47052 Banda Sea; G60772–75, G61253 Irian Jaya; Australia: G40468, G40854, G48780–81, G48921, G61668 West; G27030, G27071, G27972, G27974, G27979–84, G28010–18, G29468, G30668, G30670–72, G36044–45, G37404, G39956, G51296, G57884, G57988, G57993, G57997–98, G58074–75, G58239, G58335–38, G58411, G64616 Great Barrier Reef; G58777 South–East; South China Sea: G52249; Japan: G36908, G36911; Philippines: G41577–78; Palau: G56852, G56869, G56893; Papua New Guinea: G45793, G52752–54 North: G40854 Timor Sea; Micronesia: G38004 Chuuk; G59306–08, G59260–61, G59644, G59648, G62578–83, G62587, G62591, G62595, G62605, G62653–54, G62656–58, G62671–72, G62686, G62815, G62819 Pohnpei; Solomon Is.: G57922; New Caledonia: G40879, G40882, G54684, G59359, G61195, G61203, G61207, G61218; Marshall Is.: G56218–21, G57181–83, G58972; Kiribati: G33113; Fiji: G40937; Tahiti: G54695.

Species group: horrida .

Description. Colony outline: indeterminate, predominantly arborescent. Branches: tertiary branching order present; length:>1 0 0 mm; diameter: 5.0–9.9 mm, 50/50 axial/radial, terete; radial crowding: not touching; axial/radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: two synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 1.5–2.5 mm; inner diameter 0.5–1.1 mm; primary septa to 2/3 R. Radial corallites: medium; two synapticular rings; one size or graded; inner wall developed; shape: tubular; openings: oval-rounded; primary septa to 1/3 R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: dense spinules; spinule shape: blunt irregular.

Further literature. Nishihira & Veron (1995), Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Pillay et al. (2002), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 113. Acropora vaughani, G63447, Mayotte, East Indian Ocean, 2010 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.