Acropora akajimensis Veron, 1990

Acropora akajimensis Veron, 1990 View in CoL status revised

Acropora akajimensis Veron 1990: 102–106 View in CoL .

Here removed from synonymy with Acropora donei Veron & Wallace 1984 View in CoL contra Wallace* 1999 p. 224. See also Hatta and Matsushima 2008; Morita et al. 2019.

Specimens examined: MTQ G32475 Acropora akajimensis holotype * Ginanotatejyan * Aka-jima * Japan ; G47767 Aka-jima* Japan; RUMF-ZG-04792* Sesoko Island * Japan .

Remarks: Acropora akajimensis Veron * 1990* from Aka-jima* Japan * was considered a junior synonym of A.donei Veron & Wallace * 1984 by Wallace (1999) * a decision supported by Hoeksema and Cairns (2022). Veron (2000 * 2016) continues to recognize A. akajimensis as a distinct species* noting that it is ‘readily distinguished by its larger* sprawling* indeterminate branching pattern as compared with the determinate growth … of A. donei ’ ( Veron 2016) . Veron’s opinion is supported by the type specimens and original descriptions of both species: A. donei is described as forming colonies that are ‘caespito-corymbose or large corymbose plates or tables’ (Veron and Wallace 1984)* whereas A. akajimensis is ‘irregularly arborescent’ ( Veron 1990). The species has been the subject of several reproductive studies in Japan (e.g. Hatta and Matsushima 2008* Morita et al. 2019) and was generally referred to as A. donei . Recently* Baird et al. (2022) applied the name A. akaijimensis to the species with tabular-branching growth form and labellate to cochleariform radial corallites that spawns at ~19:30 h on the reefs surrounding Sesoko Island * ~ 20 km from the type locality of Aka-Jima* Japan * on the basis that the morphology more closely resembles the type of A. akajimensis than A. donei . Our study includes one specimen from Sesoko Island (54-5921/RUMF-ZG-04792; Fig. 4Q View Figure 4 * R) that closely resembles the type of A. akajimensis . This specimen occurs within the unresolved sp(p) clade. In addition* two specimens that resemble the type of A. donei collected from the north-central GBR (G78708 and G80265) are in Clade III sensu Cowman et al. (2020) and therefore not closely related to the A. akajimensis specimen from Sesoko. Consequently* we resurrect A. akajimensis as a valid species and suggest that A. donei is unlikely to occur in Japan. Further research is required to confirm the taxonomic identity and geographic range of A. donei and to establish the relationship between A. akajimensis and other species within Clade I-C in the north-west Pacific.