Characters: Colonies are mostly submassive. Corallites are cerioid to subplocoid with moderately thin walls. Septa are thin and widely spaced. Larger septa have very long upwardly projecting teeth giving colonies a spiny appearance. Colonies are usually not fleshy.
Colour: Uniform or mottled brown, yellow or green.
Similar Species: Acanthastrea echinata, which has relatively fleshy corallites with thicker walls and less elongate septal teeth. These two species may be difficult to distinguish unless they occur together.
Habitat: Shallow reef environments.
Abundance: Uncommon.
Taxonomic References: Veron and Pichon (1980); Veron (2000a);
Identification Guides: Pillay, Terashima, Venkatasami et al. (2002);
