Acropora samoensis (Brook, 1891)

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 : 176

Acropora samoensis (Brook, 1891)

( Fig. 86 )

Madrepora samoensis Brook, 1891: 468 ; 1893: 143, pl. 31 fig. A, pl. 6 fig. C.

Acropora wallaceae Veron, 1990: 99 , figs 4–6.

Acropora torresiana Veron, 2000 , vol. 1: 316; 2002: 52–53, figs 98–101.

Type locality. Samoa (lectotype NHM).

MTQ Holdings. G32474 HOLOTYPE of A. wallaceae from Great Barrier Reef, Australia; G55780 HOLOTYPE of A. torresiana from Torres Strait, Australia; Red Sea: G54829, G54863, G57775, G57783 Egypt; G49327, G54767–68, G58678 Saudi Arabia; G49317–18 Sudan; Socotra: G58519, G58520; Kenya: G58933–34, G58941; Comoros: G55091; Mayotte: G63318–19, G63399–402; Seychelles: G51849, G51883–84, G59458; Mauritius: G54530; Maldives: G52009, G52088, G52095–96, G59762–66, G59861–66, G60290, G60292, G60296; Chagos: G51406, G51435, G51457; Sri Lanka: G55774; Thailand: G54834, G55946–54, G56439, G56067, G59339; Malaysia: G57706, G57754, G57756 mainland and islands; G40015, G40017, G40189, G40199, G49323– 24, G53882, G55028 Sabah; Singapore: G41009; Indonesia: G47168–69, G48658–68, G48672–73 Sumatra; G50819, G59203 Java; G49115–16, G49132, G50536, G51583–84 Bali; G51062 Nusa Tenggara; G48670–71 Alor; G35979 Maluku; G49831–35 Riau; G51063–65 Taka’bonerate; G51204–07 Seribu Is; G48669, G50535 Flores; G49111, G49128–31, G50890–92 Kalimantan; G34179, G35412, G49107, G49117–27, G49332, G50537–38, G51585, G56648–50, G58616 Sulawesi; G51586–89, G53684–88, G54778–79 Halmahera; G47044 Banda Sea; G61053, G61276, G61418 Irian Jaya; Australia: G36046, G40866, G47009–10, G48705, G51543, G60640, G64388, G64393 West; G48111–17, G49326, G58978–79 North; G27022, G27066, G27449–50, G27459–60, G27462, G28229–32, G29590, G34142, G34152–53, G39873, G40832, G48314, G56367, G56833, G57609–10, G57999, G58021, G58526, G59018, G60528, G62224, G62279, G62287, G62931–45, G63892, G63903, G63929, G64719 Great Barrier Reef; G54885, G56972, G56975, G56980, G58855, G64977 South-East; G27453, G33458, G33752, G39831, G60527, G63815 Coral Sea; South China Sea: G48347, G48351, G48353; Japan: G36836, G36917, G38042, G38044, G62319–20, G62323, G62329–30, G62332, G62830–31; Taiwan: G45807–09; Philippines: G32815; Palau: G36539–40, G56867, G56880, G56904; Papua New Guinea: G35629, G52949–57, G56651–55; Micronesia: G40759 Yap; G40802, G62524, G63235 Pohnpei; Solomon Is.: G52597, G56656–60, G57924, G58576, G59000; New Caledonia: G33094, G34959, G34972, G34976–77, G34979, G35007, G40876, G49325, G58710, G58724, G58741; Chesterfield Atoll: G27378, G27451–52, G27454–58, G27461, G38146–47, G58918; Marshall Is.: G37482, G56152; Fiji: G34742, G34768, G34815; Samoa: G34724, G34817, G41236, G56025; Cook Is.: G35703.

Species group: humilis .

Description. Colony outline: determinate, predominantly corymbose. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length: 2 5–50 mm; diameter: 10.0–19.9 mm, axial-dominated, terete; radial crowding: not touching; axial/radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: three synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 2.7–4.5 mm; inner diameter 0.8–1.8 mm; primary septa to ¾ R. Radial corallites: medium; three synapticular rings; two sizes; inner wall developed; shape: tubular; openings: oval-rounded; primary septa to ¼ R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: reticulo-costate; spinule shape: elaborate. Taxonomic note. Acropora torresiana is placed in synonymy with A. samoensis based on comparison of the holotype with G2959 0 from Wye Reef and G28230 from Osbourne Reef from Veron and Wallace (1984). We concluded that the A. torresiana holotype is an immature and rapidly growing example of A. samoensis.

Further literature. Nishihira & Veron (1995), Wallace & Wolstenholme (1998), Wallace (1999), Pillay et al. (2002), Wolstenholme et al. 2003, Nomura & Mezaki (2005), Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 86. Acropora samoensis, Orpheus Is., North Queensland, 2008 (photo: P. Muir). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.