TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Scleractinia
Family: Fungiidae
Genus/species: Herpolitha sp.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Color is usually brown, cream or green tones. The Herpolitha genus is noted for short, tapering tentacles with a very long grove with several mouths. The structure is home to a single polyp which sits in a calcareous cup, the corallite. Many septae stretch from the central groove. Form may be nearly circular but mainly elongate.
Length up to 1m (39 inches)
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific: from Africa and the Red Sea to Polynesia.
Found among reef slopes and lagoons
DIET IN THE WILD: Herpolitha sp. obtains energy from sunlight via photosynthetic symbionts (zooxanthellae) and plankton captured using nematocysts
CONSERVATION: Minimal risk for over collection
REMARKS: Rather than forming colonies like most corals, Fungia corals are usually solitary and free-living. Because they are unattached, Fungia can be easily moved by waves, and so are most often found in protected places, often at depths where wave action is reduced.
References
California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium Water is life Color on the Reef 2016 AQA17
Aquarium Corals E H Borneman TFH Publications 2001 page 260
Ron’s flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/25262228054/in/album-72157659465376212/
Ron’s WordPress Shortlink http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-1Lj
