Acropora

Acropora
Temporal range: Late Paleocene - recent[1]
Acropora pulchra
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hexacorallia
Order: Scleractinia
Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Acropora
Oken, 1815[2]
Species

See text

Synonyms
List
  • Heteropora Ehrenberg, 1834
  • Madrepora (Conocyathus) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Distichocyathus) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Eumadrepora) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Lepidocyathus) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Odonthocyathus) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Polystachys) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Rhabdocyathus) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Trachylopora) Brook, 1893
  • Madrepora (Tylopora) Brook, 1893

Acropora is a genus of small polyp stony coral in the phylum Cnidaria.[3] Some of its species are known as table coral, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral. Over 149 species are described.[4] Acropora species are some of the major reef corals responsible for building the immense calcium carbonate substructure that supports the thin living skin of a reef.

  1. ^ Wallace, C. C; Rosen, B. R (2006-04-22). "Diverse staghorn corals (Acropora) in high-latitude Eocene assemblages: implications for the evolution of modern diversity patterns of reef corals". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 273 (1589): 975–982. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3307. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 1560246. PMID 16627283.
  2. ^ WoRMS (2010). "Acropora Oken, 1815". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  3. ^ "Acropora". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  4. ^ Acropora at Encyclopedia of Life Archived 2011-08-12 at the Wayback Machine