Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mouth is fringed with tentacles. Although some species are solitary, most are colonial. The founding polyp settles and starts to secrete calcium carbonate to protect its soft body. Solitary corals can be as much as 25 cm (10 in) across but in colonial species the polyps are usually only a few millimetres in diameter. These polyps reproduce asexually by budding, but remain attached to each other, forming a multi-polyp colony of clones with a common skeleton, which may be up to several metres in diameter or height according to species.
Astreopora is a genus of stony corals in the Acroporidae family. Members of the genus are commonly known as star corals and there are seventeen species currently recognized.
Galaxea fascicularis is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Euphylliidae, commonly known as octopus coral, fluorescence grass coral, galaxy coral among various vernacular names.
Pocillopora inflata is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It was first described by Peter William Glynn in 1999. It is found growing on coral reefs in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean but is nowhere abundant.
Siderastrea radians, also known as the lesser starlet coral or the shallow-water starlet coral, is a stony coral in the family Siderastreidae. It is found in shallow parts of the western Atlantic Ocean as small, solid mounds or encrusting sheets.
Acropora prolifera, the fused staghorn coral, is a branching, colonial, stony coral found in shallow parts of the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas and southern Florida.
Acropora secale is a species of branching staghorn stony coral. It is found in shallow parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the type locality is Sri Lanka. The oldest fossils found date back to the Pleistocene.
Acropora pulchra is a species of colonial staghorn coral in the family Acroporidae. It is found on the back fringes of reefs in shallow water in the western Indo-Pacific Ocean. The oldest fossils of this species date back to the Pleistocene.
Acropora aspera is a species of staghorn coral in the family Acroporidae. It is found on reef flats and in lagoons in very shallow water in the western Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Isopora palifera is a species of stony coral in the family Acroporidae. It is a reef building coral living in shallow water and adopts different forms depending on the water conditions where it is situated. It is found in the Western Indo-Pacific Ocean as far east as Australia.
Acropora grandis is a species of colonial stony coral. It is a large species with multiple branches forming a bush-like structure and is found on reefs and in lagoons. It is native to the tropical western Indo-Pacific and has a range extending from East Africa to the east coast of Australia.
Acropora loripes is a species of branching colonial stony coral. It is common on reefs, upper reef slopes and reef flats in the tropical Indo-Pacific. Its type locality is the Great Barrier Reef.
Acropora nasuta is a species of branching stony coral in the family Acroporidae. It is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific where it is found in shallow reef habitats. Like other corals of the genus Acropora, it is susceptible to coral bleaching and coral diseases and the IUCN has listed it as being "Near Threatened".
Favites pentagona is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae, sometimes known as larger star coral. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region and its range extends from the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific Ocean. This is a common species throughout its wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Goniastrea favulus, also known as the lesser star coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It occurs in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region. This is an uncommon species of coral and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being "near threatened".
Acropora rudis is a species of acroporid coral found in the Indo-Pacific region. It is an uncommon species and is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as an endangered species because it is particularly susceptible to coral bleaching, coral diseases, damage by the crown-of-thorns starfish and destruction of its coral reef habitat.
Oxypora glabra is a species of large polyp stony coral in the family Lobophylliidae. It is a colonial coral with thin encrusting laminae. It is native to the central Indo-Pacific.
Echinophyllia aspera, commonly known as the chalice coral, is a species of large polyp stony corals in the family Lobophylliidae. It is a colonial coral which is partly encrusting and partly forms laminate plates or tiers. It is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific.
Anacropora forbesi is a species of briar coral that can be found in the tropical western and central Indo-Pacific region. It is the type species of the genus Anacropora.
Tubastraea faulkneri, common name Orange sun coral, is a species of large-polyp stony corals belonging to the family Dendrophylliidae. Other common names of this coral are Orange Cup Coral, Sun Coral, Orange Polyp Coral, Rose Sun Coral, Golden Cup Coral, Sun Flower Coral, and Tube Coral.
