Characters: Colonies form thickets of intertwining bottlebrush branches, often with only the distal 200 millimetres being alive. Branches divide irregularly and at frequent intervals to give a bushy colony shape. Axial and incipient axial corallites are tubular and tapered. Radial corallites are short and appressed.
Colour: Pale brown, often with yellow branchlet tips.
Similar Species: Acropora echinata and A. carduus. Usually found with A. echinata, which has much longer axial corallites.
Habitat: Usually restricted to protected back reefs with clear water and soft substrates.
Abundance: Sometimes common.
Taxonomic References: Wallace (1978); Veron and Wallace (1984); Wallace (1999); Veron (2000a); Wallace, Done and Muir (2012);
Identification Guides: Veron (1986a); Nishihira and Veron (1995); Turak and DeVantier (2011b);
