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Acropora subulata

A hard coral with corymbose colonies and thin branches, found over a very wide area of the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to the central Pacific. 3 4 It lives mainly on shallow slopes sheltered from strong waves. 5

AcroporidaeSPSIUCN: EndangeredCITES II
Acropora subulata

At a glance

Data from the scientific sources listed at the bottom.

Depth in the wild

3–25 m

0 m6 m12 m18 m24 m30 m

Size

up to 300 cm

060120180240300

maximum colony diameter

Conservation

NEDDLCNTVUENCREWEX

IUCN Red List: endangered (2023). CITES: Appendix II. The listed criterion is A3ce. 5 The CITES listing in force dates from 18 January 1990 and applies to all Scleractinia; in the European Union it is in Annex B. 2 The category is also confirmed by GBIF and WoRMS. 1 6 The species is among those measured in a study on bleaching at Moorea, in April 1994, at 7, 13 and 23 m with water at 29.5-30 °C (Hoegh-Guldberg and Salvat, 1995). 4

Where it lives

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

The Red Sea (Egypt, Sudan, Yemen), Socotra, Kenya, Tanzania, Mayotte, the Seychelles and Mauritius; then the Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia; finally the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific islands as far as Samoa, the Cook Islands and Pitcairn. 1 2 3

The coral

Group: SPS

Growth form: corymbose, with a defined outline

Zooxanthellae: yes

How to recognise it

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

12
  1. 1Corymbose colony with a defined outline and dense branches 3
  2. 2Thin branches 2.5-5 mm thick and 50-100 mm long 3

Life in the wild

Where it is found

Shallow slopes with many Acropora species, sheltered from strong waves, and gently sloping submerged reefs. 5 The 3-25 m range comes from SeaLifeBase; other data give 5-25 m (Carpenter et al., 2008) and down to 30 m (Muir et al., 2015). 4 5

What it eats

It hosts symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). 1 These generally belong to clade C: types C3, C3u, C3z and C101 in the Andaman Islands and the Similan Islands, C109a in Zanzibar, C3 at Heron Island; in the Andaman Islands, at 6 m, also D1 and D1a (La Jeunesse et al., 2003 and 2010). 4

Reproduction

A hermaphrodite that releases its gametes into the sea (Wallace, 1999). 4 I found no studies on spawning periods attributed with certainty to this species.

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 subulata can be found on the shallow slopes of the coral reef of the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The colonies are circular in shape and, if they find the right water conditions (stable calcium, alkalinity and magnesium, and low pollutants), they grow very quickly.

In the aquarium it should be placed on the rockwork in a middle-to-high position, with strong water movement.

photo by: Matteo De Benedictis

Did you know?

The reference specimen of the species comes from Fiji. Wallace et al. propose also merging into it Acropora lamarcki, described in 2000, which WoRMS still keeps separate. 3
The maximum diameters reported reach 3 m (Wallace, 1999; Wallace and Wolstenholme, 1998). 4

Sources

  1. Hoeksema B.W., Cairns S., Samimi-Namin K. (2026). Acropora subulata (Dana, 1846). World List of Scleractinia, via WoRMS.
  2. UNEP-WCMC (2026). Acropora subulata, CITES listings and distribution. Species+.
  3. Wallace C.C., Done B.J., Muir P.R. (2012). Acropora subulata (Dana, 1846), in: 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. Madin J. et al. (eds.) (2026). Acropora subulata: data from Wallace 2012, Wallace 1999, Wallace and Wolstenholme 1998, Carpenter 2008, Muir 2015, La Jeunesse 2003 and 2010, Hoegh-Guldberg and Salvat 1995. Coral Trait Database.
  5. Palomares M.L.D., Pauly D. (eds.) (2026). Acropora subulata. SeaLifeBase.
  6. GBIF Secretariat (2026). Acropora subulata, IUCN Red List category. GBIF.

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

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