About Acropora millepora (Ehrenberg, 1834)
Acropora millepora is a small colonial coral that grows in clumps. Its short branches are cylindrical, and all of its radial corallites are the same size with projecting lower rims, giving them a scale-like appearance. Its color is variable, and may be green with orange-tipped branches, pale pink, orange, plain green, or blue. This is a common species found in the western and central Indo-Pacific. Its range extends from the Red Sea, Kenya, and South Africa to India, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Australia. It grows in shallow water between 2 and 12 meters (6 and 40 feet) deep, growing mostly on reef flats, and also on upper reef slopes and in lagoons. Acropora millepora is a zooxanthellate coral species that hosts symbiotic dinoflagellates in its tissues. The larvae of this coral preferentially settle on vertical surfaces and on encrusting coralline algae. At lower temperatures of 22.5 °C (72.5 °F), larvae are less specific in their choice of settlement sites, and have lower survival rates. Surprisingly, the substrate choice for larval settlement is modified by the strain of symbiont present in the local area, even when the symbiont has not yet infected the larval tissues.
