Characters: Colonies are digitate or arborescent with anastomosing upright branches. Corallites are immersed and small, especially in colonies from shallow water. The coenosteum is smooth.
Colour: Pale cream or brown, sometimes pink or blue.
Similar Species: Montipora samarensis. See also M. altasepta.
Habitat: Shallow reef environments. May be a dominant species of shallow mud flats.
Abundance: Common.
Taxonomic Note: A species complex. Species boundaries with the nominal species Montipora tortuosa (Dana, 1846) require further study (Stobart, 2000).
Taxonomic References: Veron and Wallace (1984); Stobart (2000); Veron (2000a);
Identification Guides: Veron (1986a); Nishihira and Veron (1995); Pillay, Terashima, Venkatasami et al. (2002); Turak and DeVantier (2011b);
