Acropora nobilis
Dana, 1846
Description: Colonies have large upright cylindrical branches and may form stands more than 5 metres across. Horizontally fused basal branches are only developed in shallow water. Radial corallites are of mixed sizes and shapes and are rasp-like.
Color: Cream, brown, blue, yellow and green. Individual colonies are uniform in colour except for the branch ends, which are pale.
Habitat: Deep sandy lagoons to upper reef slopes.
Abundance: Common.
Similar Species: Radial corallites are similar to those of Acropora robusta and A. abrotanoides, but these species have different growth-forms except in very shallow water. Acropora formosa, A. abrolhosensis and A. grandis may have similar growth-forms but corallite sizes and shapes are clearly distinct.
Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic references: Wells (1954), Veron and Wallace (1984), Wallace and Wolstenholme (1998, as A. intermedia), Wallace (1999, as A. intermedia). Identification guides: Veron (1986), Sheppard and Sheppard (1991), Nishihira and Veron (1995).
This species commonly forms thickets of long branches. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Ed Lovell
Branch ends. Negros, Philippines Photograph: Doug Fenner
On an upper reef slope. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Neville Coleman
A branch tip with corallites of mixed sizes. Great Barrier Reef, Australia Photograph: Valerie Taylor
Skeletal detail. Radial corallites.