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Back to: Part 1 Red Sea Reef Flat Biotopes
Genus Montipora: Again fifteen nominal species are
described for the Red Sea. Of these only a couple are commonly found on the reef
flats.
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Montipora meandrina (Ehrenberg 1834). Colonies made up of irregular
surface verrucae that aren't fused into a pattern. Shallow reef edge. Red Sea
images.
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| Montipora monasteriata (Forsskal
1775). Colonies as massive encrusting forms or uni- or bifacial plates.
Most corallites immersed; coenosteum covered with tuberculae or papillae.
Light brown or blue in color with white margins. Common on upper reef
slopes in its range. Red Sea images.
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Family Pocilloporidae:
| Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus 1758), Cauliflower
Coral. The most common member of the family offered to the aquarium trade.
Compact clumps of up to a few meters height. Verrucae and branches blend
together. Of varying branch thickness (thinner in greater depths, less
water motion areas). Several colors: overall brown, pink cream, greenish.
Red Sea colony. |
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| Pocillopora verrucosa (Ellis & Solander 1796),
Cauliflower Coral. More blunt, bump-like branches and much more
common than P. damicornis here. Red Sea images. |
 
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| Genus Stylophora of the four genera of pocilloporids found
in the Red Sea is the most common on the reef flat; particularly S.
pistillata (shown in higher water circulation and deeper water morph) which occurs down the slope to about 25m in depth.
S. wellsi is common on the flats but not very beautiful; being more
encrusting in appearance. S. subseriata is also found here,
is similar in appearance. |
 
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Family Poritidae: Porites, is especially important
at the reef crest of the slope as a principal reef builder. The genus is
typified by having small (1-2 mm.) honeycomb-like corallites that assemble as
fine to the point of smooth boulders of tan, brown to pink color. Ten plus
species here.
| Porites solida (Forsskal 1775). Massive, generally
hemispherical boulders of up to meters across. Smooth to undulating
surface appearance. Large polyps for the genus. Very common in the Red
Sea, so much so that in calmer waters the reef crest is often termed the
"Porites Zone" of this species. One inch macro framer and small
colony in the Red Sea. |
 
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| Porites rus Forsskal 1775, Plate and Pillar Coral.
Variable in shape as its common name points to. Upright columns more
shallow to gorgeous plates deeper, more calm waters. Gray to brown in
color, often with yellow polyps that have wider spaced calyces, raised
areas between polyps. Red Sea images. |
 
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Other Stony Coral Families: Less common but periodically
dominant are other scleractinian families members.
| Goniastrea retiformis (Lamarck 1816), family
Faviidae. Common species
in its wide range. Colonies encrusting to hilly to columnar to
boulder-like. To over a meter in diameter. Corallites four to six sided,
with alternating series of septa that are thin-walled and straight. Fiji
images. |
 
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Spiny-Skinned Animals, phylum Echinodermata. About the
only echinoderm species that regularly brave the vicissitudes of the Red Sea
Reef Flat are Pencil Urchins, that hunker down in rocky crags during the day and
emerge to scrape algae by night.
| Heterocentrotus mammillatus (Linnaeus 1758), the
(Red) Pencil Urchin. Indo-Pacific; Red Sea to Hawai'i. Nocturnal, hiding
in crevices by day in depths to thirty feet, emerging at night to rasp
rocks. To one foot overall diameter. Hawai'i picture. |
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Principal Fishes of the Red Sea Sandy Reef Slopes:
(Species commonly available, and
useful for aquariums.)
Surgeonfishes, family Acanthuridae: There are 15 species in the Red
Sea. The Sohal is the undisputed "King" of fishes of the reef flat,
occasionally found with the most common Naso and Purple Tangs in
"supporting" (but subdominant) temporary roles. See the Reef Slope
section for more.
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Acanthurus sohal
(Forsskal 1775), the Red Sea Clown or Sohal Tang.
One of the best Surgeonfish
of the genus Acanthurus for very large systems, though some individuals get quite aggressive with age and size.
As long as they're "Kingfish", problems are few. Red Sea image.
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| Naso lituratus, the
Naso Tang to most
aquarists; it is also known as the tricolor or lipstick tang. There are some who claim
that "blonde" and "streamer" versions are different species; they're
all Naso lituratus. To eighteen inches in the wild. Below, a Naso in
the Red Sea. |
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Zebrasoma xanthurum (Blyth 1852), the Yellowtail or Purple (though more blue than
violet) Sailfin Tang. Collected from the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, this is a supreme
aquarium fish. Hardy and gorgeously bluish purple with yellow pectoral and caudal fin
highlights. A 2 inch juvenile and adult couple in the Red Sea and
an exemplary aquarium specimen shown.
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Damselfishes, family Pomacentridae: Of the forty species of
pomacentrid species found in the Red Sea, a couple spend almost all their time
between the reef side edge of the Flat/Plateau and just "over the
edge" of the reef slope.
| Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard 1825), the
Indo-Pacific Sergeant Major. Eastern coast of Africa and Red Sea out to the Line and Tuamotu Islands. To six
inches long. Fourth black body bar originates after hard dorsal fin.
Individuals and their group pictured on the reef flat/slope border. |
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| Pomacentrus sufureus Klunzinger 1871, the Sulphur
Damsel. Western Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea. To three inches
overall length. This fish has become a steady offering in the pet trade.
It's a gorgeous golden yellow overall as an adult and only slightly less
so as juveniles. Red Sea image. |
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Wrasses, family Labridae: Of the sixty nine species of Red Sea
wrasses, only a few are "resident" on the reef flat, though a dozen or
more do visit here.
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Gomphosus caeruleus Lacepede 1801, the Blue, or Red Sea Bird Wrasse (1) is found in
the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. Males are dark azure blue, and females white to yellow below
and dark greenish blue above. To one foot in length. Below: two inch juvenile,
four inch female, seven inch male. Images made in the Red Sea.
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Thalassoma rueppellii (Klunzinger 1871), Klunzinger’s
Wrasse. To eight inches maximum length. Formerly
and often still misidentified as T. klunzingeri.
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Back to: Part 1 Red Sea Reef Flat Biotopes
Or on to/down to the next level: The Red Sea Reef
Slope
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