Acropora cytherea is a stony coral which forms horizontal table like structures. It occurs in the Indo-Pacific Ocean in areas with little wave action, favouring back reef environments from 3 to 20 m (10 to 66 ft) depth.

Description Acropora cytherea is a colonial species of coral that grows in large horizontal plates. These are formed of many tiny branchlets growing vertically or at an angle and others growing horizontally to extend the colony. They may branch and link together and near the centre the plates may become a solid mass of joined branchlets. The surface of the coral is covered by a thin layer of living tissue. This has a rough surface and contains zooxanthella, symbiotic, unicellular, photosynthetic algae. These give the coral its cream or pale brown colour (occasionally pale blue). The calcium carbonate skeleton is secreted by many small polyps which are joined together through an interconnecting network of channels inside the skeleton. At night, and sometimes during the day, the polyps protrude from the skeleton and extend their tentacles to feed.