The Acroporidae family includes 2 of our favourite hard corals – Staghorn and Table Corals, from the genus Acropora. It also contains the less noticeable Astreopora and Montipora Corals – which have very different growth forms.
The classic Staghorn Coral, seen on many coral reefs around Koh Phangan.
Their correct identification is close to impossible, as their growth form is so often determined by their environment!
The identification problems are the same as those for the Staghorn Corals.
Can look similar to the Goniopora Anemone Corals but they have 12 rather than 24 tentacles.
Another so called Star Coral. They have a much larger corallum than the Montipora Corals.
The genus Montipora has the second greatest number of species occurring within the hard corals, but generally they are neither distinctive nor easy to identify...
Marine Life Directory
