''Acropora elegans'' 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 ...

that was first described by

Henri Milne-Edwards Henri Milne-Edwards (23 October 1800 – 29 July 1885) was an eminent French zoologist. Biography Henri Milne-Edwards was the 27th child of William Edwards, an English planter and colonel of the militia in Jamaica and Elisabeth Vaux, a Frenchw ...

in 1860. Found in sheltered, sloping reefs, this species occurs at depth. The species is listed as vulnerable 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 ...

, and has a decreasing population. It is not common and has a small range, and is listed under CITES Appendix II. It is more resistant to disease than other ''Acropora'' species.

Description

''Acropora elegans'' is found on flat colonies that are over wide, which are composed of flat branches coming off the centre of the structures. Branches grow to lengths of up to long and wide. Branchlets are present on the surface of the structure and reach lengths of . The branch and branchlet ends are pale in colour, while the coral is generally tan-coloured. The radial corallites exist on the sides of most branches, but do mostly not exist below the structure. These are tube-shaped and long, and are combined with the axial corallites. It looks similar to ''Acropora simplex''. It occurs on the steep slopes of sheltered reefs, at depths of between .

Distribution

''Acropora elegans'' is not common and occurs in a small range; the Indo-Pacific. It is found in Ryukyu, Papua New Guinea, Milne Bay, the Philippines, and two regions of Indonesia. It is native to Australia, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Taiwan. There is no exact population for the species, but numbers are known to be decreasing. Unlike other ''Acropora'' species, given that this occurs in deep water, it potentially is not as threatened by disease and bleaching from rising sea temperatures than other species in the genus. Despite this, it is threatened by being prey to starfish ''Acanthaster planci'', coral harvesting, climate change, disease, coral bleaching, fishing, and human activity. This species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and is also listed under CITES Appendix II.

Taxonomy

It was first described by Milne Edwards and Haime in 1860 as ''Madrepora elegans'', and was later identified as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''Acropora magnifica'' by Nemenzo in 1971. However, it was later re-classified as a separate species, ''Acropora elegans''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3945035 Vulnerable animals Vulnerable fauna of Asia Acropora Cnidarians of the Indian Ocean Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Fauna of East Asia Marine fauna of Asia Corals described in 1860 Taxa named by Henri Milne-Edwards