Astreopora

Astreopora is a genus of stony corals in the Acroporidae family. Members of the genus are commonly known as star corals and there are seventeen species currently recognized.

==Description== Members of this genus mostly form dome-shaped or rounded heads but sometimes have leaflike extensions, which vary from massive mounds to encrusting, or which form plates, vases and branches. They are much larger than members of the genus Montipora. They have a wide range of colours including yellow, brown, green, pink and blue but the most common are whitish-blue. The corallites are distinct and separate, sometimes raised on cones and sometimes depressed, up to four millimetres across and round in cross-section. The skeleton is porous with the coenosteum having a net-like appearance. The coral appears rough-textured because of tiny spines that cover the surface between the corallites. The septa are poorly developed giving corals of this genus the appearance of being filled with holes.