Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Phylum: Cnidaria
Classis: Anthozoa
Subclassis: Hexacorallia
Ordo: Scleractinia
Subordo: Astrocoeniina
Familia: Acroporidae
Genera (7 + 2†): Acropora – Alveopora – Anacropora – Astreopora – Enigmopora – Isopora – Montipora – †Dendracis – †Diplocoenia
Name
Acroporidae Verrill, , 1902
References
Hironobu Fukami, Makoto Omori, & Masayuki Hatta 2000: Phylogenetic Relationships in the Coral Family Acroporidae, Reassessed by Inference from Mitochondrial Genes. Zoological Science, pp. 689–696.
Wallace, C.C. 1999: Staghorn corals of the world: a revision of the coral genus Acropora (Scleractinia; Astrocoeniina; Acroporidae) worldwide, with emphasis on morphology, phylogeny and biogeography. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia.
Verrill, 1902: Trans. Connecticut Acad. Arts Sci. 11: 163
Links
Acroporidae in the World Register of Marine Species
Acroporidae – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Vernacular names
English: Stony Corals
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.[3] They are commonly known as staghorn corals and are grown in aquaria by reef hobbyists.[4]
Description
Staghorn corals are the dominant group of reef builders. They come in many shapes and sizes and can be highly variable in colour and form, even within the same species. Most are either a branching variant or a wall/ table top variant shaped and some are encrusting (growing over rock structures). Their colours vary between browns, whites, pinks, blues, yellows, greens and purple, depending not only on species but also on the growing conditions. Identification is difficult and requires close examination of the corallites and a biochemical and genetic analysis.[4] There is a corallite at the tip of each branch and, with the exception of Astreopora, these are small with up to twelve septa in two cycles.[3]
Distribution
Anacropora, Astreopora and Montipora are found in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Acropora is cosmopolitan and is both common and conspicuous, usually being dominant in Indo-Pacific reefs.[3] Enigmopora is represented by a single new species, Enigmopora darveliensis,[5] found in Malaysia and the Philippines.[6]
Biology
Staghorn corals are hermaphrodites. They are mostly broadcast-spawners and some species have been involved in annual synchronous mass-spawning events on the Great Barrier Reef and in Japanese and Indonesian waters. Some species undergo fragmentation, a form of asexual reproduction, and this sometimes results in reefs composed of a single species.[3]
References
Veron, J. E. N.; Odorico, D. M.; Chen, C. A.; Miller, D. J. (1996). "Reassessing evolutionary relationships of scleractinian corals". Coral Reefs. Springer Nature. 15 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1007/bf01626073. ISSN 0722-4028.
Hoeksema, B. (2013). "Acroporidae". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
"Classification of Scleractinian (Stony) Corals". Archived from the original on 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
Quintessential Small Polyped Stony Corals, the Staghorns, Family Acroporidae
van der Land, Jacob (2010). "Enigmopora". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
Delbeek, J.C.; Richards, Z.; Lovell, E.; Bass, D.; Aeby, G.; Reboton, C. (2008). "Enigmopora darveliensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T132912A3490281. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T132912A3490281.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
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