Wild Acropora Identification

[Peter Clark]

I recently was in French Polynesia (specifically Moorea, right next to Tahiti in the Society Islands) and came across a thicket of acropora while snorkeling. I haven't been able to ID the exact species yet. Below is a single photo of it, and the rest are all here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DSZ_NA19UYgF7BZbjA4aMqoZwvIXteT7?usp=sharing

I've been trying to use coralsoftheworld.org to help me narrow it down, but I just don't see anything that matches with my untrained eye. One user on a scuba forum thought it was Acropora yongei / Green Slimmer, but corlsoftheworld doesn't list that one as existing in the Society Islands part of French Polynesia.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

 

[joseserrano]

Some kind of stag

 

[stephj03]

Try other stag species like:
Formosa
Muricata

 

[Mike&Terry]

Perhaps Acropora pulchra.

I found this link interesting:
Coral Reefs of Moorea

And here's a link from aims (Corals of the World) site:
Acropora pulchra

 

[C. Eymann]

Try other stag species like:
Formosa
Muricata

Id say both are a good guess considering muricata & formosa are now considered synonymous/same species. (technically formosa doesn't exist anymore as its been merged into muricata.)


Another species that I would compare it with is micropathalma, which would be my guess considering its radial corallites tend to elongate slightly more towards the end of the branches/branchlets like the coral in your photos.