Acropora coral (no English common name)
Acropora digitifera
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 207045, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Acropora coral (no English common name)
- Scientific
- Acropora digitifera
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Hard corals
- Depth and habitat
- Reef-associated, recorded from 0 to 12 m
- IUCN status
- EN · EndangeredEndangered (EN), assessed 2023CITES Appendix II
Description
A small, low Acropora that forms short, finger-like branches rising from a flat base. It is usually brown, cream or grey, with paler branch tips. It grows on reef flats and reef crests exposed to waves, where it is often common. Several finger-forming Acropora look similar, and a close look at the cups is needed to separate them.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=13, QM, USNM); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=4); literature records via OBIS (Hexacorallians of the World (Fautin 2013), IndOBIS); SeaLifeBase Maldives checklist. Branching and table corals of this kind were among the worst hit by the 1998 and 2016 mass bleaching events in the Maldives.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Acropora-digitifera.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207045
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Acropora_digitifera_Maldives_2.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.