Acropora rongelapensis Richards & Wallace, 2004

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 : 168

Acropora rongelapensis Richards & Wallace, 2004

( Fig. 82 )

Acropora rongelapensis Richards & Wallace, 2004: 2 , fig. 1.

Type locality. Rongelap Atoll, Marshall Islands.

MTQ Holdings. HOLOTYPE G57574, PARATYPES G57575–76 Marshall Islands; Indonesia: G58620–21, G61241–48; Sulawesi; G63108–09 Irian Jaya; Micronesia: G59246–48, G59259, G62366–68, G62614, G62625, G62688–91 Pohnpei.

Species group: loripes.

Description. Colony outline: Indeterminate, plate to arborescent. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length: 50–100 mm; diameter: 5–9.9 mm; axial dominated, tapering; radial crowding: not touching; axial/radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: three synapticular rings; not porous; outer diameter 1.2–1.9 mm; inner diameter 0.5–0.8 mm; primary septa to 2/3 R. Radial corallites: medium; mixed sizes; inner wall developed; shape: tubular; openings: oval-rounded; primary septa to 2/3 R. Coenosteum: same on and between radials: dense spinules; spinule shape: elaborate.

Taxonomic note. The description of this species is expanded from the type description, following a finding of abundant colonies in Pohnpei, Micronesia (Wallace & Muir, unpublished).

Figures

FIG. 82. Acropora rongelapensis, G62689 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.