Acropora speciosa (Quelch, 1886)

Wallace, Carden C., Done, Barbara J. & Muir, Paul R., 2012, Revision and catalogue of worldwide staghorn corals Acropora and Isopora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) in the Museum of Tropical Queensland, Memoirs of the Queensland Museu Nature 57, pp. 1-258 : 192

Acropora speciosa (Quelch, 1886)

( Fig. 94 )

Madrepora speciosa Quelch, 1886: 163 , pl. 10 fig. 1.

Madrepora rayneri Brook, 1892: 461 ; 1893: 191, pl. 8 fig. A.

Type locality. Tahiti (holotype NHM).

MTQ Holdings. Mayotte: G63315; Maldives: G60010, G60301, G60307, G60316, G61601; Indonesia: G50421, G50449, G50524, G51200 Bali; G53672 Alor; G48245–46 Lombok; G50793 Ambon; G50414, G50525, G51020 Flores; G50437–38, G50444–45 Kalimantan; G48230, G50430, G50523, G51013–18, G51212, G51890–93, G51897–900, G57000, G57002, G57650, Sulawesi; G51894–96, G52423 Halmahera; G58894 Banda Sea; G60992, G61051, G61230 Irian Jaya; Australia: G30357, G56917, G56936, G57027–30, G60538, G60548, G62216, G62222, G62263–64, G62269–70, G62280, G62282, G63803–05, G63890–91, G63924–25, G64802 Great Barrier Reef; G58043, G60523 Coral Sea; Philippines: G32830; Palau: G56876–77; Papua New Guinea: G35666, G53130–40, G53440; Micronesia: G62465, G62594 Pohnpei; Solomon Is.: G57919, G58532; New Caledonia: G59171; Marshall Is.: G56318; Fiji: G40929.

Species group: loripes.

Description. Colony outline: indeterminate, predominantly plate. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length: <25 mm; diameter: 2.5–4.9 mm, 50/50 axial/radial, terete; radial crowding: not touching; axial/radial ratio: <1:10. Axial corallites: two synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 0.6–1.5 mm; inner diameter 0.3–0.8 mm; primary septa to ¼ R. Radial corallites: medium; two synapticular rings; one size or graded; inner wall developed; shape: appressed tubular; openings: oval-round- ed; primary septa to ¼ R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: dense spinules; spinule shape: single point.

Further literature. Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 94. Acropora speciosa, G62465, Pohnpei, Micronesia, 2009 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.