Bushy staghorn coral

Acropora valida

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Endangered

Usual depth0–46 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary, May, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) João D'Andretta, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Acropora valida is a species of acroporid coral found in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the southwestern, northwestern and northern Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, southeast Asia, Japan, the East China Sea, the oceanic western, central and far eastern Pacific Ocean, the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Atoll. It occurs in tropical shallow reefs in a variety of reef habitats, at depths of 1 to 15 metres.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 63 records
February: 211 records
March: 58 records
April: 108 records
May: 241 records
June: 56 records
July: 50 records
August: 118 records
September: 78 records
October: 184 records
November: 156 records
December: 50 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–46 m · Deepest record: 51 m

0–10 m: 468 records
10–20 m: 47 records
20–30 m: 11 records
30–40 m: 27 records
40–50 m: 137 records
50–60 m: 10 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 35 records
24–26 °C: 199 records
26–28 °C: 253 records
28–30 °C: 291 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Bushy staghorn coral

Names in 1 more languages

Japanese: ホソエダミドリイシ

Other scientific names: Acropora (Acropora) valida, Acropora (Polystachys) dissimilis, Acropora (Rhabdocyathus) valida, Acropora (Rhabdocyathus) variabilis, Acropora calamaria, Acropora dissimilis, Acropora excelsa, Acropora parapharaonis, Acropora variabilis, Madrepora (Conocyathus) tumida, Madrepora (Conocyathus) valida, Madrepora (Conocyathus) variabilis, Madrepora (Tylopora) calamaria, Madrepora calamaria, Madrepora coalescens, Madrepora valida, Madrepora variabilis, Madrepora verrucosa

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).
3,057 open-data records from 1846 to 2012.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist