Acropora derawanensis
Acropora derawanensis is a vulnerable species of coral in the Acropora family. It lives in tropical, shallow reefs sheltered from big waves, at depths of 10–25 meters. Colonies form upright or flat branches up to about 1 meter wide; each branch can be up to 8 centimeters long. The branch tips have long, tube-like axial corallites that are blue and white, while the overall color is usually red-brown. The radial corallites on the sides are small and tube-shaped. The species resembles Acropora filiformis and Acropora kirstyae and reaches maturity after more than eight years.
It is uncommon but found over a wide area in the central Indo-Pacific, including parts of Southeast Asia, Micronesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It is threatened by the decline of coral reefs, warming oceans and bleaching, coral diseases, climate change, fishing, ocean acidification, pollution, and invasive species. It is not mainly threatened by crown-of-thorns starfish because it is very fragile. Some individuals live in Marine Protected Areas. It was first described in 1997 by C. C. Wallace.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:14 (CET).