Acropora aculeus
Taxonomical systematics
Scientific name
Acropora (Acropora) aculeus (Dana, 1846)
Synonyms
Madrepora aculeus Dana, 1846
Common names
Acropora,
Subgenus
Acropora Oken, 1815
Genus
Acropora Oken 1815
Family
Acroporidae Verrill, 1902
Suborder
Astrocoeniina Vaughan and Wells, 1943
Order
Scleractinia
Subclass
Zoantharia
Class
Anthozoa
Phylum
Cnidaria
Phylogeny
Closest sibling
Acropora (Acropora) nana (Studer, 1878) (Wallace, 1999)
Species group
latistella group (Wallace, 1999)
Clade
SFAHL (C) (Wallace, 1999)
Clade origination
SFAHL clade (C) origination appears to coincide with the isolation of the Indo-Pacific Tethys from the Caribbean Tethys after early to mid-Miocene (Wallace, 1999)
Geological history
Fossil record
None.
Local ecology
Distribution
Tropical Western Pacific Ocean, Great Barrier Reef, Tropical Eastern Indian Ocean, Northern and Western Indian Ocean.
Habitat
Found over a wide depth range, down to 20m on slopes and walls (Wallace, 1999).
Biological characteristics
Description
Colours include bright blue, bright yellow-green, brown and blue-grey (Wallace & Aw, 2000; Wallace, 1999).
Zooxanthellate
Hermatypic
A. aculeus at Osprey Reef, Coral Sea.
References
Wallace C.C. 1999. Staghorn Corals of the World : A Revision of the Coral Genus Acropora. CSIRO, Collingwood, Australia. 420pp.
Wallace C. and Aw M. 2000. Acropora Staghorn Corals: A "Getting to Know You" and Identification Guide. OceanNEnvironment, Carlingford Court, NSW, Australia. 128pp.
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