Acropora hyacinthus

Acropora hyacinthus

Plate coral species are difficult to identify even if you look closely at the pattern of their skeleton. They will also vary according to where they are growing, in heavy swells they will be very compact and at depth they may look like branching corals.

One of the most common plate corals is Acropora hyacinthus. It is too compact to have any damselfish associated with it and will often grow different levels.

It is one of the most important butterflyfish foods and some, like the chevroned butterflyfish, are thought to rely on this one species for survival.

Its arch enemy is spaghetti coral which uses a toxic mucous (snot) to stop the plate coral from growing towards it.