Acropora austera is a colonial scleractinian coral (family Acroporidae) found across the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea to the central Pacific. Its colonies display corymbose to tabular growth forms with compact, tightly packed branches on exposed reef crests and upper slopes. The species maintains photosymbiosis with Symbiodiniaceae algae, which are critical for calcification and energy acquisition. Genomic data have been generated for this species and are available in public databases, enabling comparative studies of cnidarian evolution and ecology.