| Manicina areolata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Anthozoa |
| Order: | Scleractinia |
| Family: | Mussidae |
| Genus: | Manicina |
| Species: | M. areolata |
| Binomial name | |
| Manicina areolata (Linnaeus, 1758) [2] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
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.
M. areolata is a colonial coral. Budding is intracalicular, occurring within the whorl of tentacles of the polyp. The corallites are arranged in a meandroid fashion, which means there are a series of linked centres in broad valleys, often 10 to 15 mm (0.4 to 0.6 in) wide, [3] giving the colony the appearance of the surface of a human brain. The polyps share an elongate oral disc with the tentacles round the rim. [4]
Colonies are small, often less than 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. Manicina areolata has two entirely different growth forms. Some individuals form small, solid hemispherical heads while others are small, cone-shaped structures that are not attached to the seabed. The surface of the coral consists of long meandering walls with wide intervening valleys. The polyps sit in corallites (stony cups) in the valleys from which fine septa (transverse ridges) extend in several series up to the summit of the walls on either side. Often the whole coral consists of one long, convoluted valley, sometimes with side valleys. Where there is more than one valley, the intervening walls have grooves running along the top. The colour of this coral is yellowish-brown, tan or dark brown, often with the valleys and walls being contrasting colours. The polyps are only extended at night and their oral surfaces are often green. [5] [6] [7]
M. areolata is native to the tropical and subtropical West Atlantic Ocean. Its range includes the southern half of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, southern Florida, the Bahamas and Bermuda. It is found on soft sediments, cobble or rubble, on fore-reef and back-reef slopes and in sea grass meadows. Usually occurring at depths of less than 10 m (33 ft), its lower depth limit is around 60 m (200 ft). [1] [6] The massive form is found on reefs attached to rocks but the unattached form is found on areas of broken coral fragments and on sandy or muddy substrates including lagoons and turtle grass ( Thalassia testudinum ) meadows. [6]
The unattached cone-shaped form of Manicina areolata can right itself if overturned by a fish, current or wave action. The polyps have pleats and muscles in the mesentries which enable them to extend further from the corallite than can small-polyp corals. This gives them the facility to inflate the body cavity with water, enabling the polyps to swell up and dislodge sediment, and even turn the colony over if this proves necessary. [8] It does this by inflating itself by filling its interior with water and then emitting jets of water on one side to make the whole structure topple over. It is a slow process and is more difficult to achieve as the coral grows larger. This may be the reason that this coral seldom exceeds a diameter of 10 cm (4 in). [9] This coral can rid itself of sediment that threatens to engulf it by producing mucus and sloughing this and the sediment that adheres to it like a skin. [5] The tissues of this coral contain symbiotic unicellular algae called zooxanthella. [2]
Manicina areolata is a hermaphrodite, the gametes are produced around the time of the full moon in May and June. Fertilisation is internal and the larvae are brooded inside the colony for two weeks before being released simultaneously on the night of the new moon. The larvae may drift planktonically or settle immediately. [9]
Other corals that occupy a similar habitat, and which often co-occur with rose coral, are the free-living corals Porites divaricata , Cladocora arbuscula and several species of Oculina . [1]
Rose coral is tolerant of a wide range of salinities and temperature variations and some degree of sedimentation. It is a common species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern". [1]
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.
Pillar coral is a hard coral found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Dendrogyra. It is a digitate coral -that is, it resembles fingers or a cluster of cigars, growing up from the sea floor without any secondary branching. It is large and can grow on both flat and sloping surfaces at depths down to 20 m (65 ft). It is one of the few types of hard coral in which the polyps can commonly be seen feeding during the day.
Porites astreoides, commonly known as mustard hill coral or yellow porites, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Poritidae.
Pleuractis paumotensis, commonly called plate coral, is a species of stony coral with a single large polyp. Plate coral are commonly kept in marine aquaria.
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.
Eusmilia is a genus of stony coral in the family Meandrinidae. It is a monotypic genus represented by the species Eusmilia fastigiata, commonly known as the smooth flower coral. It is found on reefs in the Caribbean Sea.
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.
Pseudodiploria strigosa, the symmetrical brain coral, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It occurs on reefs in shallow water in the West Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It grows slowly and lives to a great age.
Pseudodiploria clivosa, the knobby brain coral, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It occurs in shallow water in the West Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Meandrina meandrites, commonly known as maze coral, is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Meandrinidae. It is found primarily on outer coral reef slopes in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
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.
Isophyllia sinuosa, the sinuous cactus coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It is found in shallow water in the tropical western Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea.
Lobophyllia hemprichii, commonly called lobed brain coral, lobed cactus coral or largebrain root coral, is a species of large polyp stony coral in the family Lobophylliidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. In its specific name Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg honoured his late partner the Prussian naturalist Wilhelm Hemprich; they were among the first to study the marine life of the Red Sea.
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".
Agaricia agaricites, commonly known as lettuce coral or tan lettuce-leaf coral, is a species of colonial stony corals in the family Agariciidae. This coral is found in shallow waters in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is a common species and the IUCN has assessed its status as being of "least concern".
Favites complanata is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae, sometimes known as the larger star coral. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region and its range extends from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the western and central Pacific Ocean. This is an uncommon species of coral and seems to be decreasing in abundance, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being "near threatened".
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.
Porites branneri, known by the common name blue crust coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing on reefs in the Caribbean Sea and the northern and eastern coasts of South America.
Cycloseris cyclolites is a species of disc coral in the family Fungiidae. It was first described by the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1815. It is native to the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region where it is found on soft sediment in shallow water.
