''Acropora abrotanoides'' is a species of acroporid

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

found in

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

waters from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

and the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

east to the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

, Japan, the central

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and Australia. It is found in shallow

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s that are exposed to the action of strong waves, at depths up to 15 m. It is vulnerable to

coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to various stressors, such as changes in temperature, light, or nutrients. Bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel the zooxanthellae (dinoflagellates that are commonly referred to as alg ...

, disease and

crown-of-thorns starfish The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spine ...

. It is resistant to predation as it has well-developed radial corallite lips.

Taxonomy and systematics

''Acropora abrotanoides'' was first described by Lamarck in 1816 as ''Madrepora abrotanoides''. ''Acropora irregularis'' was formerly considered as a separate species, but is now considered as synonymous with ''Acropora abrotanoides''.

Description

It occurs in colonies of fused branches growing across the seabed (prostrate) with vertical outer branches with diameters of up to ; these can be table-shaped. In the centre of a colony, the branches are fused together—these can be either elongated or conical, sometimes with ends tapering to a point. Its branches contain both axial and radial corallites; radial corallites have been observed as elongated and axial corallites occur in varying numbers and are rasp-like or tubular in shape. Radial corallites have evolved to have well-developed tips preventing predation. It is green-grey or pink-brown in colour and is similar to ''

Acropora pinguis ''Acropora robusta'' is a species of acroporid coral found in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the southwest and northern Indian Ocean, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, the East China Sea and the oceanic west and cent ...

'', and ''

Acropora robusta ''Acropora robusta'' is a species of acroporid coral found in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the southwest and northern Indian Ocean, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, the East China Sea and the oceanic west and cent ...

''.

Distribution

''Acropora abrotanoides'' is found from the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, through the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, Australia, and Japan. It also occurs in the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Threats

It is classed as a least concern species on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, but it is believed that its population is decreasing, and it is listed under Appendix II of CITES. Figures of its population are unknown, but is likely to be threatened by the global reduction of coral reefs, the increase of temperature causing coral bleaching, climate change, human activity, the crown-of-thorns starfish (''Acanthaster planci'') and disease.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13227536 Acropora Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Fauna of the Indian Ocean Fauna of the Red Sea Marine fauna of Asia Marine fauna of Oceania Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of Asia Near threatened biota of Oceania Corals described in 1816