Dragon Rider is one of those Acropora that looks like it’s been lit from within — bright, fiery colour running through a heavily textured millepora growth form.

The name really suits this one. Across the branches you get a mix of hot orange and red tones, with hints of green lower down and cool blue-to-purple growing tips giving the whole coral a striking contrast. Under reef lighting, the combination gives Dragon Rider an almost flame-like appearance.

As a millepora, it has that classic chunky, textured look, with closely packed corallites giving the branches loads of surface detail and character.

Once settled and growing well, Dragon Rider has the potential to develop from a colourful frag into a substantial, heavily branched colony.

Bright, bold and full of texture — Dragon Rider is the sort of Acropora that should become more impressive the bigger it gets.