Anthozoa is a class of marine invertebrates which includes the sea anemones, stony corals and soft corals. Adult anthozoans are almost all attached to the seabed, while their larvae can disperse as part of the plankton. The basic unit of the adult is the polyp; this consists of a cylindrical column topped by a disc with a central mouth surrounded by tentacles. Sea anemones are mostly solitary, but the majority of corals are colonial, being formed by the budding of new polyps from an original, founding individual. Colonies are strengthened by calcium carbonate and other materials and take various massive, plate-like, bushy or leafy forms.
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.
Porites astreoides, commonly known as mustard hill coral or yellow porites, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Poritidae.
Pocillopora verrucosa, commonly known as cauliflower coral, rasp coral, or knob-horned coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It is native to tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Balanophyllia europaea, called also scarlet coral or pig-tooth coral, is a small species of stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae.
Paramuricea clavata, the violescent sea-whip, is a species of colonial soft coral in the family Plexauridae. It is found in shallow seas of the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and the north-western Mediterranean Sea as well as Ionian Sea. This species was first described by the French naturalist Antoine Risso in 1826.
Eunicella cavolini, commonly known as the yellow gorgonian or yellow sea whip, is a species of colonial soft coral in the family Gorgoniidae. It is native to parts of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Ionian Sea where it is a common species.
Leptogorgia sarmentosa is a species of colonial soft coral, a sea fan in the family Gorgoniidae. It is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea, with a single find in the eastern Mediterranean.
Alcyonium coralloides, commonly known as false coral, is a colonial species of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In the former location it generally grows as sheets or small lobes but in the latter it is parasitic and overgrows sea fans.
Leptopsammia pruvoti, the sunset cup coral, is a solitary stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is an azooxanthellate species, meaning its tissues do not contain the symbiotic unicellular algae (zooxanthellae) of the genus Symbiodinium, as do most corals. It is native to the Mediterranean Sea. The species was described by Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers in 1897 and named to honor the French marine biologist Georges Pruvot.
Turbinaria stellulata, also known as disc coral, is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being "vulnerable".
Blastomussa wellsi is a species of large polyp stony coral. It is unclear in which family the genus Blastomussa belongs. This coral is found in the west and central Indo-Pacific region.
Anthelia glauca, the giant anthelia, is a species of soft coral in the family Xeniidae. It is a colonial species and is found in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region.
Polycyathus muellerae is a small species of coral in the family Caryophylliidae in the order Scleractinia, the stony corals. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is a large polyp, colonial coral and grows under overhangs and in caves as part of an assemblage of organisms suited to these poorly-lit sites.
Euphylliidae are known as a family of polyped stony corals under the order Scleractinia.
Manicina areolata, commonly known as rose coral, is a colonial species of stony coral. It occurs in shallow water in the West Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, sometimes as small solid heads and sometimes as unattached cone-shaped forms.
Oxypora lacera, the ragged chalice coral or porous lettuce coral, is a species of large polyp stony corals in the family Lobophylliidae. It is a colonial coral which can be submassive, encrusting or laminar. It is native to the western Indo-Pacific.
Balanophyllia elegans, the orange coral or orange cup coral, is a species of solitary cup coral, a stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. As an azooxanthellate species, it does not contain symbiotic dinoflagellates in its tissues in the way that most corals do.
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.
