Isopora palifera (Lamarck, 1816)

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 : 246

Isopora palifera (Lamarck, 1816)

( Fig. 121 )

Astrea palifera Lamarck, 1816: 262 .

Madrepora labrosa Dana, 1846: 486 , pl. 43 fig. 3.

Madrepora turgida Verrill, 1866: 9.

Madrepora cylindrus Ortmann, 1892: 658.

Acropora prominens Nemenzo, 1967: 139 , pl. 15 fig. 2. Type locality. Southern Ocean (holotype MNHN).

MTQ Holdings. Socotra: G56951; Mayotte: G63202–06; Seychelles: G46420–21, G59471; La R é union: G33211; Maldives: G52011, G59773–75, G60350–51; Chagos: G51344–48, G51764; Thailand: G56081–84; Indonesia: G46624, G48401–03, G48423 Sumatra; G32847 Java; G48879, G48903–04, G48925–26 Bali; G48390, G48414–22 Alor; G47459–60 Lombok; G35760 Maluku; G51575 Tukangbesi Islands; G48404–10 Flores; G48894–902 Kalimantan; G48413 Semau; G34176–78, G47146–58, G47208–09, G48880–93, G51560–61, G51576, G55461, G55469, G55477–78, G55715 Sulawesi; G51562–63, G51571–72 Molucca Sea; G51564–70, G51573–74 Halmahera; G46233–34, G46410–14 Banda Sea; G48411–12 West Timor; Australia: G40787 West; G28518–21, G28525, G28528, G28530, G28533, G28535–36, G28541, G28544– 48, G28553–54, G29473, G29602–0 3, G29605–06, G30320–21, G30323–24, G30326–27, G30361–63, G30365–66, G30369–76, G30378–79, G30381, G30385–87, G31157, G34233, G39857, G43349–76, G43381–93, G43397–99, G43577, G55481, G57600, G57983, G64638, G64718, G64747 Great Barrier Reef; G28517, G28523–24, G28526, G28543, G28549, G30322, G30384, G39456 South-East; G28527, G28538, G28542, G28550–51, G30328, G30359, G30367, G30377, G30380, G30382–83, G43377–80, G43394–96, G63802 Coral Sea; Taiwan: G35498, G45935, G45938; Palau: G36228–29, G56634, G60199; Papua New Guinea: G35908, G53160–76; Micronesia: G40727–28, G40763, G40770 Yap; G62403 Pohnpei; G62763–65 Kosrae; New Caledonia: G34956, G34983, G36016, G49044, G54846–47, G58719, G58745, G59165, G61029, G61030; Chesterfield Atoll: G30325, G30360, G30364, G30368, G31912, G38152, G38242; Marshall Is.: G56168–69, G56216; Samoa: G39455.

Description. Colony outline: indeterminate, predominantly cuneiform. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length:>100 mm; diameter:>19.9 mm, axial-dominated, reverse tapering; radial crowding: some touching; axial/ radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: greater than three synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 2.8–4.2 mm; inner diameter 0.7–1.4 mm; primary septa to 1 R. Radial corallites: large; greater than three synapticular rings; one size or graded; inner wall developed; shape: appressed tubular; openings: dimidiate; primary septa to 1 R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: dense spinules; spinule shape: meandroid elaborate.

Taxonomic note. This is the type species of Isopora . See Wallace et al. (2007).

Further literature. Nishihira & Veron (1995), Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Dai & Horng (2009), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 121. Isopora palifera, Kosrae, Micronesia, 2009 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.