Characters: Colonies are horizontal plates, sometimes tiered. Plates are composed of fused branches and are almost solid. Branchlets occur irregularly and are widely spaced. Axial corallites are well defined except on the margins of fused plates. Radial corallites are tubular and appressed or elongate, forming incipient axial corallites.
Colour: Brown, with pale extremities.
Similar Species: Acropora solitaryensis, which is best distinguished by its larger, rasp-like radial corallites. See also A. divaricata, which has finer, less fused, branches.
Habitat: Upper reef slopes, lagoons and fringing reefs.
Abundance: Uncommon.
Taxonomic Note: Considered to be a probable junior synonym of Acropora solitaryensis by Wallace (1999) . These species are likely to be confused in museum collections but A. natalensis is distinctive where both species occur together.
Taxonomic References: Riegl (1995a); Veron (2000a);
