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Related FAQs: Mussids, Mussids
2, Mussid Identification,
Mussid Behavior,
Mussid Compatibility,
Mussid Selection,
Mussid Disease,
Mussid Systems,
Mussid Feeding,
Mussid Reproduction,
Stony/True Coral,
Coral System Set-Up, Coral
System Lighting, Stony Coral
Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral
Placement, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition,
Disease/Health, Propagation,
Growing Reef Corals, Stony
Coral Behavior,
Related Articles: Large
Polyp Stony Corals, Stony
or True Corals, Order Scleractinia, Dyed
Corals,
/The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium:
Brain, Meat, Pineapple
Corals, Family Mussidae, Pt. 2
To: Part 1, Part
3
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By Bob Fenner |
Lobophyllia hemprichii
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Genus Cynarina Bruggemann 1877. Single, circular polyps, with
prominent/large lobed septa evident (as opposed to the similar Scolymia of this
family). Typically tissue is inflated with water during day (tentacles out only
at night). Monotypic genus (one species).
| Cynarina lacrymalis (Milne Edwards and Haime 1848).
Button, Meat, Record, my fave: Donut... Coral. A popular aquarium species that prefers
medium to lower light intensity. Many color varieties. Able to expand more
than twice its skeletal size. N. Sulawesi specimen at right, aquarium
ones below. |
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Genus Isophyllastrea
| Isophyllastrea rigida, Rough Star Coral, Polygonal
Coral. Tropical West Atlantic. Dome-shaped. Ridge along midline of septa.
One each in Cancun and Cozumel, Mexico. |
 
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Genus Isophyllia Milne Edwards and Haime 1851. Small colonies
(typically under eight inches in diameter), flat to slightly dome-shaped. Thin
septae and columnellae (on dead skeleton appearance). Found only in the tropical
West Atlantic.
| Isophyllia sinuosa (Ellis and Solander 1786).
Distinctive for its range. Meandering valleys. Not common. Bahamas image. |
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Genus Lobophyllia Blainville 1830. Lobed/Flat Brain Coral. Sometimes massive colonies that
tend to be dome-shaped. Flabello-meandroid or phaceloid. Large corallites with
distinctive knobby, long septal teeth. Valleys (columellae) long and deep, often of contrasting lighter color. Tentacles typically light tipped.
| Lobophyllia corymbosa (Forskal 1775). Colonies flat
to hemispherical, large in the Red Sea (up to six feet in diameter).
Well separated calices. High, blunt septal teeth. Colors are generally
greenish or brown, gray, with lighter oral discs; look spiny. Below, first
row: Red Sea broken colony and two
groups growing near, close-up, and younger colonies in Fiji. Second row:
N. Sulawesi |
| Lobophyllia flabelliformis Veron 2000. Hemispherical
colonies that readily break apart. Very fleshy corallites. Mantle covers
all skeletal elements. Fully expanded colonies exhibit papilla that look
like small tentacles over septa. Aquarium specimen. |
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| Lobophyllia hemprichii (Ehrenberg 1834). Flat to huge
dome-shaped colonies of more than fifteen feet diameter. Elongate to
irregular corallites, often with contrasting oral disc color. A common
species where found. Easily kept in captivity and fragged. At right,
aquarium colony and small colonies from the wild are often
marketed at retail. Below, a close up and a colony in Pulau Redang,
Malaysia, and a just-picked-up specimen by the author in Fiji. Second row,
N. Sulawesi. Third row, specimens in Nuka Hiva, Marquesas, Polynesia. |
 
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| Lobophyllia pachysepta Chevalier 1975. Small colonies
either flat or hemispherical. Distinctive large lobed, yellowish teeth
(handful) per corallite. Gray, green in color. Fiji, N. Sulawesi photos. |
 
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| Lobophyllia serratus Veron 2000.
Hemispherical colonies of up to six feet across. Meandering corallites
bear 2 or 3 mouths. Septa with tall, sharp teeth (evident on dead polyps).
Distinctive flattened, tri-colored appearance to living corallites.
Hawai'i (Waikiki) aquarium photo. |
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| Lobo's come in many, MANY color variations: |
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Genus Mussa Oken 1815. Monotypic, only found in the tropical West
Atlantic.
| Mussa angulosa (Pallas 1766). Large, fleshy polyps
that are well-separated. When retracted, skeletal elements/septa appear
spiny. To two feet in diameter. Below: Bahamas images of larger, smaller
colonies and a close-up by Di.F in Cozumel. |
To: Part 1, Part
3 | |
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