Characters: Colonies are clumps of prostrate or upright branches. They have irregular branching patterns with frequent sub-branches. Axial corallites are small. Radial corallites are crowded, tubular, appressed, and are irregular in size and shape.
Colour: Brown and pinkish brown.
Similar Species: Acropora muricata (especially colonies with compact branching), which has larger branches and larger corallites. A. microphthalma in similar habitats branches less frequently and has radial corallites all the same size.
Habitat: Shallow protected reef environments, especially lagoons.
Abundance: Uncommon in Japan, rare elsewhere.
Taxonomic Note: Resembles a compact form of Acropora muricata in collections and considered a junior synonym of A. muricata by Wallace (1999) and Wallace, Done and Muir (2012). However, these species are unmistakable in the field, there being clear differences in colony branching and to a lesser degree, corallite shape.
Taxonomic References: Nemenzo (1967); Veron (2000a);
