Acropora rudis
A threatened Indo-Pacific coral recorded by NOAA
“I have never been common. I live in the Indian Ocean, stretched across rocky foreshores in large tapered branches. My upper surfaces are covered with small openings, while my lower sides stay smooth, pressed close to the reef. I am easy to mistake for others, but my shape is my own: heavy branches, smooth beneath, alive above. Those who know how to look can still find me, uncommon but conspicuous. There were never many of us, and that has made every loss harder to recover from. I keep holding to the reef, but the ocean around me is changing. And if I disappear, another shelter, another branching place for life, will disappear with me.”