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Glite Dictionary
Acropora

Acropora

1 9.9
A type of coral with thin branching arms that grows on shallow tropical reefs
  • noun
  • Specialized
: Acropora
  • The structure of Acropora corals, characterized by their branching shapes, contributes significantly to the biodiversity of coral reefs.
  • corals, such as Acropora

Examples

  • Relative abundance of genes belonging to biological processes in the cDNA library for the stony coral Acropora palmata.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Recent efforts to sequence the genome of corals, such as Acropora species, have cataloged thousands of individual genes, all of which are distributed among various cellular processes of the organism.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The density of staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) on the north coast of Jamaica continued to decline for years after Hurricane Allen passed in the early 1980s.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The staghorn corals known as Acropora play a vital role in maintaining the health of tropical reef ecosystems.

  • Researchers discovered several species of Acropora that thrive in shallow waters and provide habitats for various marine life.

Synonyms

staghorn coral
vsAcropora
  • Specialized
1 7.9

A coral with branches like deer antlers that builds shallow reefs in warm seas

is the scientific genus name used by researchers rather than the common label
stag's-horn coral
vsAcropora
9.9

A large branching coral shaped like deer antlers that grows on shallow tropical reefs

is the scientific genus name rather than a hyphenated possessive label

Surface Forms

Acropora singular
Acroporas plural

Etymology

Acropora comes from Greek parts acro- meaning 'top', as in 'acrobat', and -pora meaning 'pore' or 'small opening', like the English word 'pore', so the name fits these branching corals that have many tiny openings at their branch tips.