Acropora – ミドリイシ
Acropora is a genus of hard coral. There are over a hundred named species of Acropora in the Indo-Pacific. They come in many shapes and sizes. Acropora is a hard reefbuilding coral with cup shaped protruding calyx. They are a colonial animal with polyps living in the individual calyx. They feed on plankton and have symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) living inside of them. Under stress they expel the zooxanthellae turn white and often die. Many corals bleached and died in the summer of 2024 on Amami Oshima. Acropora corals were some of the hardest hit.
A branching Acropora sp. Kakeromajima 2018
A small Acropora sp. Amami 2024
Several types of Acropora sp. in this picture. Table and Staghorn corals are usually Acropora sp. Amami 2023
Acropora sp. coral possibly Acropora echinata. Amami 2025
Here you can see the shape of the coral calyx. These Acropora sp. have blue tips. Amami 2023
Acropora sp. Amami 2024
A Staghorn Coral Acropora sp. Amami 2022