Methodology: Growth form derived from Wallace et al (2012) textual descriptions
ID:
56
Description:
Three species not in our species list
Acropora sirikitae
Acropora arafura
Acropora eibli (Pillai & Sheer 1976)
The relevant morphological traits are:
“Colony outline” – 1= determinate [“colony grows to a more or less predictable outline”] vs 0 = indeterminate [“colony grows apparently without any intrinsic restriction”]
“Predominant outline” ie colony growth form using the following 11 categories defined in Wallace 1999
Descriptions modified from Wallace 1999:
Arborescent: branches of similar length given off at a similar angles. Open-branching
Arborescent-table: open branched tables
Corymbose: flat topped clumps
Caespitose: branches in clusters or tufts. Closed branching