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Project Noah Nature School
Symphyllia agaricia
This coral is identified by the colony's large, pink-centered and thick-ridged corallites. Colonies appear as nearly perfect spheres, frequently reaching a meter across.
This species occurs in many parts of the world, and often in shallow tropical waters.
hi Blogs! actually they are rather sinuous however not very elongated which is characteristic of symphyllia. on the other hand, favids have distinct conical corallites. hope this helps!
Hi Alvin. This does look like S. agaricia, but the corallites here seem cell-shaped and not sinuous, don't you think?
Characters: Colonies are hemispherical to flat. Valleys are sinuous or straight, averaging 35 millimetres wide and are usually separated by a narrow groove. Walls have a thick fleshy appearance. Septa are thick and have large teeth. Columellae are usually in two rows. Colour: Brown, green or red, usually with distinctly contrasting valley and wall colours. Similar species: Symphyllia radians, which has smaller, straighter valleys. See also S. hassi. Lobophyllia flabelliformis can look similar underwater. Habitat: Exposed upper reef slopes. Abundance: Uncommon.
Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic reference: Veron and Pichon (1980). Additional identification guides: Veron (1986), Nishihira and Veron (1995).
Every little effort counts, my friend! I hope you'll pursue your goal to become a coral specialist. (But pls also keep in mind the Project Noah guidelines I mentioned in a comment on one of your spottings.)
Btw pls don't call me "sir" anymore. :)
ahahahaa,, trying my best sir., i actually want to be a coral specialist.. >_< aahaha,, so im doing little things like this. ^_^
No problem sir, i actually had fun looking for it, i had this in my database of species in my research at Lagundi reef.. ^_^
Hmmm... On P. daedalea, the furrows are contiguous, but on this coral it's different. P. daedalea looks like a maze, doesn't it? This one looks like it's made up of squished cells. :)
Hey Rex. Thanks for the suggestion, but I doubt if this is Platygyra daedalea. The furrows or striations are different on the lesser valley coral, I think...
Spotted on Jan 7, 2012
Submitted on Jan 25, 2012
