Acropora, Oken, 1815

Sola, Erwan, Silva, Isabel Marques da & Glassom, David, 2015, An annotated and illustrated checklist of species of the coral genus Acropora (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) from Vamizi Island, Mozambique, African Invertebrates 56 (3), pp. 807-807 : 817

Acropora cerealis (Dana, 1846)

Fig. 7

Colony growth form: Small corymbose bushes.

Axial corallites: Outer diameter 2.8–3.6 mm; inner diameter 0.9–1.2 mm; tubular with thick wall; blade-like septa are present in two neat cycles.

Radial corallites: Uniformly sized and arranged; nariform with extending and thickened outer wall that can be slightly hooked; opening is very elongate or dimidiate; septa are dentate but rudimentary.

Coenosteum: Costate or broken costae on and between radial corallites.

Remarks: A. cerealis has a resemblance to A. nasuta (Dana, 1846), but Wallace and Wolstenholme (1998) differentiate them by A. cerealis having thinner branches and radial corallites with more extended outer-wall, sometimes hooked upwards. Our diagnosis is mainly based on these two features as well as the different coenosteum structure. As noted by Veron and Wallace (1984), A. cerealis also has a more branching growth pattern than A. nasuta, which was also the case here.

Figures

Fig.7.Acropora cerealis Specimen number:VAM63.(A)live colony;(B)axial corallite;(C)branch fragment; (D) radial corallites; (E) coenosteum between corallites.