Finger Coral

Acropora humilis

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Endangered

Usual depth0–38 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsMay, August, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Acropora humilis, also known as finger coral, is a species of acroporid coral found in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the northern and southwestern Indian Ocean, Australia, the central Indo-Pacific, Japan, southeast Asia, the East China Sea, the central and western Pacific Ocean, the Johnston Atoll and the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It also occurs in the Raja Ampat Islands, Mariana Islands, Palau, and the Pitcairn Islands. Occurring in tropical shallow reefs on upper reef flats and slopes at depths of up to 12 metres (39 ft), it was described by Dana in 1846.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Acropora humilis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 59 records
February: 67 records
March: 60 records
April: 108 records
May: 173 records
June: 59 records
July: 52 records
August: 140 records
September: 93 records
October: 139 records
November: 70 records
December: 33 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–38 m · Deepest record: 2,889 m

0–10 m: 298 records
10–20 m: 31 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 32 records
40–50 m: 33 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 114 records
26–28 °C: 304 records
28–30 °C: 234 records

Photos

(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Romain Boisseau, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Kevin Judge, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Finger Coral

Names in 1 more languages

Japanese: ツツユビミドリイシ

Other scientific names: Acropora (Acropora) humilis, Acropora (Acropora) ocellata, Acropora (Lepidocyathus) obscura, Acropora (Tylopora) ocellata, Acropora fruticosa, Acropora guppyi, Acropora obscura, Acropora ocellata, Acropora spectabilis, Madrepora (Lepidocyathus) obscura, Madrepora (Tylopora) fruticosa, Madrepora (Tylopora) guppyi, Madrepora (Tylopora) humilis, Madrepora (Tylopora) ocellata, Madrepora (Tylopora) spectabilis, Madrepora fruticosa, Madrepora guppyi, Madrepora humilis, Madrepora obscura, Madrepora ocellata, Madrepora spectabilis

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,999 open-data records from 1846 to 2012.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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