Acropora digitifera

Lore & Background

Acropora digitifera forms colonies of prostrate or upright branches, reaching up to 1 metre in diameter. Its thin branches have long, tube-shaped axial corallites and small tube- or pocket-shaped radial corallites. The coral is digitate, with an elongated terminal corallite and often a blue tip. It resembles Acropora humilis but is smaller, with branching finger-like lobes, and is red-brown in colour with white or blue axial corallites. It also looks similar to Acropora filiformis.

Reader's Guide

Acropora digitifera is classed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List, with a decreasing population. Its population figures are unknown, but it is threatened by global coral reef reduction, temperature increase causing coral bleaching, climate change, human activity, the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), and disease. The species is listed under Appendix II of CITES. Its distribution includes the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the northern and southwestern Indian Ocean, the central Indo-Pacific, southeast Asia, Australia, Japan, the west Pacific Ocean, the East China Sea, and the Pitcairn Islands. Originally described as Madrepora digitifera by Dana in 1846, it remains a subject of conservation concern due to multiple environmental pressures.

Did You Know?

• Acropora digitifera was originally described as Madrepora digitifera by James Dwight Dana in 1846.
• It is found at depths from 0 to 12 metres in shallow tropical reef back margins.
• It is listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List and under Appendix II of CITES.