''Acropora cerealis'' is a species of

acroporid Acroporidae is a family of small polyped stony corals in the phylum Cnidaria. The name is derived from the Greek ''"akron"'' meaning "summit" and refers to the presence of a corallite at the tip of each branch of coral. They are commonly known a ...

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 secre ...

found throughout the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

oceans, from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

and the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Chan ...

to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

and the

Johnston Atoll Johnston Atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States, currently administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Johnston Atoll is a National Wildlife Refuge and part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine Nation ...

. It can be found on upper reef slopes in shallow tropical reefs, from depths of 3–20 m.

Crown-of-thorns starfish The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spine ...

preferentially prey upon ''Acropora'' corals, and this species is also harvested for the aquarium trade.

Description

It occurs in either corymbose or cespitose colonies consisting of interlocking branches, each locked to three other branches. Its thin branches contain a large number of corallites considerably contributing to their widths. Radial corallites of the species are tube-shaped and built into the branches, with nariform obvious tips. Its axial corallites are also tubular. Branches have blue, cream, pink or purple branch tips, and the species is either cream, pale brown or white in colour. It has a similar appearance to '' Acropora kimbeensis'' and '' Acropora plantaginea''.

Distribution

It is classed as a least concern species 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 ...

, but it is believed that its population is decreasing due to the global decline in coral reefs, and it is listed under Appendix II of CITES. Figures of its population are not known, but is likely to be threatened by the global reduction of coral reefs, the increase of temperature causing coral bleaching, climate change, human activity, the crown-of-thorns starfish (''Acanthaster planci'') and disease. It occurs in the eastern and western Indian Ocean, Australia, and the eastern central, northwest, central-western and southwest Pacific Ocean; from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea to the Hawaiian Islands and Johnson Atoll.

Taxonomy

It was described by Dana in 1846.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3955382 Acropora Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Cnidarians of the Indian Ocean Marine fauna of Asia Marine fauna of Oceania Marine fauna of Southeast Asia Marine fauna of Western Asia Fauna of the Red Sea Anthozoa of Australia Cnidarians of Hawaii Anthozoa of the United States Least concern biota of Asia Least concern biota of Oceania Corals described in 1846 Taxa named by James Dwight Dana