''Acropora digitifera'' is a species of

acroporid Acroporidae is a family of small polyped stony corals in the phylum Cnidaria. The name is derived from the Greek ''"akron"'' meaning "summit" and refers to the presence of a corallite at the tip of each branch of coral. They are commonly known a ...

coral found in 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 ...

, the Red Sea, the southwest and northern Indian Ocean, Australia, southeast Asia, the central

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 ...

, Japan, the west Pacific Ocean and 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 ...

. It is found in shallow areas of tropical reefs in the back margins, from depths of 0 to 12 m. It was described by Dana in 1846.

Description

It occurs in colonies consisting of either prostrate or upright groups of branches; colonies have diameters of up to . Its thin branches contain long axial corallites which are tube-shaped, and radial corallites are tube- or pocket-shaped and small. This coral is a digitate coral, with an elongated terminal

corallite A corallite is the skeletal cup, formed by an individual stony coral polyp, in which the polyp sits and into which it can retract. The cup is composed of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, and is secreted by the polyp. Corallit ...

and often a blue tip. It looks like '' Acropora humilis'' but is smaller, with branching finger-like lobes. It is red-brown in colour and has either white or blue axial corallites. It also looks similar to '' Acropora filiformis''.

Distribution

It is classed as a near threatened species on the IUCN Red List; 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. This coral can be found in the

, the Red Sea, the northern and southwestern Indian Ocean, the central

, southeast Asia, Australia,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the west Pacific Ocean and the

. It is also found in the

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...

Taxonomy

It was first described as ''Madrepora digitifera'' by Dana in 1846.

Gallery

Image:Acropora digitifera Réunion.jpg, ''Acropora digitifera'' in Réunion island Image:Acropora digitifera Macro Maldives.jpg, In Maldives Image:Acropora digitifera Maldives.JPG, Close-up on the corallites.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3942202 Acropora Corals described in 1846 Near threatened animals