Skip to content

Acropora navini

Currently accepted name: Acropora longicyathus

The name A. navini is no longer accepted: the original specimen, from Papua New Guinea, falls within the variability of Acropora longicyathus, and this species sheet gives the data for that species. 1 3 It is a hard coral with 'bottlebrush' colonies and tubular side corallites, found from the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific. 2 3

AcroporidaeSPSIUCN: EndangeredCITES II
Acropora navini

At a glance

Data from the scientific sources listed at the bottom.

Depth in the wild

5–20 m

0 m4 m8 m12 m16 m20 m

Conservation

NEDDLCNTVUENCREWEX

IUCN Red List: endangered (2023). CITES: Appendix II. The category, criterion A3ce and CITES listing refer to A. longicyathus. 2 The old name A. navini still appears in Species+ as a separate species, with a listing in force since 18 January 1990 and Annex B in the European Union. 4

The coral

Group: SPS

Growth form: hispidose ('bottlebrush'), with upright branches 5-10 mm thick and tubular side corallites

Zooxanthellae: yes

Where it lives

Red SeaWestern Indian OceanEastern Indian OceanCentral Indo-PacificWestern PacificCentral PacificEastern PacificWestern AtlanticEastern AtlanticMediterranean

WoRMS records A. longicyathus from Mozambique, the Seychelles, the Maldives and Chagos, and from Australia and American Samoa. 2 The Queensland reference collection also holds specimens from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the South China Sea, Japan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, the Marshall Islands and Fiji. 3 A study on ranges gives limits of about 38° E and 136° W, between 27° N and 33° S. 5 9 Under the old name A. navini, Species+ only lists Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. 4

How to recognise it

Tap a number on the photo: the key explains what to look for.

1234
  1. 1Tubular side corallites elongated, with a round or oval opening 2 3
  2. 2Tip corallite at the end of the branch, 1.5-2.8 mm wide 3
  3. 3Spaced corallites on the branches the side corallites do not touch 3
  4. 4Brown colour usually light to dark, sometimes blue 2

Life in the wild

Where it is found

The usual range of 5-20 m comes from a 2008 dataset. 5 6 On outer reef buttresses it has been recorded between 7 and 12 m. 5 8 In a survey of the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea it appeared only down to 30 m, not deeper. 7 According to a WoRMS note it is abundant in many habitats and can dominate on unconsolidated bottoms. 2

What it eats

It hosts symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). 2 At Heron Island, on the southern Great Barrier Reef, type C3 was found at 3 m. 5 10

Reproduction

A hermaphrodite that releases eggs and sperm into the sea. 5 12 With larvae from One Tree Island, 35-47% of those studied began attaching 2-3 days after spawning; this species' peak of final settlement came in the first weeks, so some may travel away from their home reef. 11

In the aquarium

From the experience of the BallingMania community.

Community rating
Position in the tank
lowmediumhigh
Water flow
lowmediumhigh
Light intensity
lowmediumhigh
Aggression
lowmediumhigh
Care difficulty
lowmediumhigh
Original sheet

Acropora navini is found in the central-western Pacific Ocean and belongs to the Deepwater category. The largest populations have been recorded in the seas of Papua New Guinea, also known as Papuasia. No detailed information on its distribution and habitat is available for this coral, because it does not yet appear on the IUCN Red List.

The colonies are made up of horizontal branches, with upward-growing branches diverging from the main ones. Its colour can be cream, brown or blue, but the shades can vary depending on the intensity of the light it is exposed to.

photo by: Ciro Murino

Did you know?

A. navini was described by Veron in 2000 and placed among the synonyms of A. longicyathus in 2012: the original specimen, from Milne Bay, falls within the variability of specimens from the Great Barrier Reef. 1 3
The type locality of A. longicyathus is not known. 3

Sources

  1. Hoeksema B.W., Cairns S., Samimi-Namin K. (2026). Acropora navini Veron, 2000. World List of Scleractinia, via WoRMS.
  2. Hoeksema B.W., Cairns S., Samimi-Namin K. (2026). Acropora longicyathus (Milne Edwards, 1860). World List of Scleractinia, via WoRMS.
  3. Wallace C.C., Done B.J., Muir P.R. (2012). Revision and catalogue of worldwide staghorn corals Acropora and Isopora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) in the Museum of Tropical Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - Nature.
  4. UNEP-WCMC (2026). Acropora navini, CITES listings and distribution. Species+.
  5. Madin J. et al. (eds.) (2026). Acropora longicyathus. Coral Trait Database.
  6. Carpenter K.E., Abrar M., Aeby G. et al. (2008). One-Third of Reef-Building Corals Face Elevated Extinction Risk from Climate Change and Local Impacts. Science, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
  7. Muir P., Wallace C., Bridge T.C.L., Bongaerts P. (2015). Diverse Staghorn Coral Fauna on the Mesophotic Reefs of North-East Australia. PLOS ONE.
  8. Wallace C., Dale M.B. (1978). An Information Analysis Approach to Zonation Patterns of the Coral Genus Acropora on Outer Reef Buttresses. Atoll Research Bulletin, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
  9. Hughes T.P., Connolly S.R., Keith S.A. (2013). Geographic ranges of reef corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia) in the Indo-Pacific. Ecology, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
  10. LaJeunesse T.C., Loh W.K.W., van Woesik R. et al. (2003). Low symbiont diversity in southern Great Barrier Reef corals relative to those of the Caribbean. Limnology and Oceanography, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
  11. Harrison P.L. (2006). Settlement competency periods and dispersal potential of scleractinian reef coral larvae. Proceedings of the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium, Southern Cross University portal.
  12. Harrison P.L., Babcock R.C., Bull G.D. et al. (1984). Mass Spawning in Tropical Reef Corals. Science, reference in the Coral Trait Database.

Sources checked on 5 November 2026. Community texts and ratings are kept separate from the scientific data.

Download the original sheet (Italian)All species