Hexacorallia |
Scleractinia |
Merulinidae
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Reef-associated; depth range 15 - 25 m (Ref. 8294). Tropical; 29°N - 34°S, 26°E - 108°W (Ref. 848)
Indo-Pacific: From Red Sea and southern Africa east to Easter Island, north to Ryukyu, south to Australia. Tropical to subtropical.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Colony: massive, usually small. Corallites: crowded, circular. Septa: thickened, exsert or ragged, with large teeth near the wall. Well developed paliform lobes forming a crown around the columella. Color: often brown or gray or mottled, with walls and calices of contrasting color (Ref. 848).
Depth based from occurrence (Ref. 8294); to be replaced with a better reference. Known from upper reef slopes (Ref. 848).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Hermaphroditic (Ref. 113712). Mature gametes are shed into the coelenteron and spawned through the mouth. Life cycle: The zygote develops into a planktonic planula larva. Metamorphosis begins with early morphogenesis of tentacles, septa and pharynx before larval settlement on the aboral end (Ref. 833).
Ross, M.A. and G. Hodgson 1981 A quantitative study of hermatypic coral diversity and zonation at Apo Reef, Mindiro, Philippines. Proceedings of the Fourth International Coral Reef Syposium, Manila 2:281-291. (Ref. 8294)
IUCN Red List Status
(Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Human uses
| FishSource |
Tools
More information
Trophic EcologyFood items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Population dynamicsGrowthMax. ages / sizesLength-weight rel.Length-length rel.Length-frequenciesMass conversionAbundance PhysiologyOxygen consumption
Human RelatedStamps, coins, misc.
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature
(Ref.
115969): 24.7 - 29, mean 28.2 (based on 240 cells).
Price category
Unknown.
