Smooth cauliflower coral. Millepora alcicornis. Conduct surveys of coral community composition at sites and assess dominance of coral types known to be more resistant or tolerant to bleaching. Colour ranges from cream, pink or blue to greens. Knowing and being able to identify different types of marine life, fish and coral makes scuba diving all the more exciting and enjoyable. When it comes to Coral Identification the sheer number of and different types of coral make it hard to come up with an extensive, all encompassing list. It is a hard, branching coral with blunt, slightly flattened ends. Uniqueness: The Great Barrier Reef is not just the largest coral system in the world, it is the one thought to have the highest biodiversity.That is, more kinds plants and animals than any other ecosystem. The coral animal, along with its algae, grows on a skeleton of coral created from calcium in the sea water. Mycetophyllia danaan. Branching Fire Coral. See our Corals Information page to learn more about how to acquire many of the species of corals shown here. Box Fire Coral. Branching corals: this type is most commonly associated with the most colorful small corals, and are made up of a tree-like structure with multiple branches and secondary branches. ifish / Getty Images. The Coral Health Chart uses four coral types to classify corals. A single coral species can grow in a wide variety of shapes and sizes depending on the environmental conditions (light, currents, sedimentation, etc). Photos and pictures of Acropora species Bottlebrush, Branching, Brier, Bushy, Cat's Paw, Cluster, Elkhorn, Staghorn, Table/Tabletop Acropora corals, and Montipora species named Plate, Velvet/Velvet Finger Coral, Encrusting and Whorled Montipora. SPONGES & CORALS 3(d) Structure, Classification and Function of Corals. Continua: where there is no clear discontinuity in morphology, genotype or distribution. Common in shallow reef areas, particularly those that are exposed to strong wave action, although it can occur to a depth of about 15m. Individual calices are generally only a few mm across, but have well-developed walls, so that they stick out slightly from the corullum (the rest of the coral skeleton) somewhat like holes on a flute. Size: Up to 30cm across. Millepora complanata. Knobby Cactus Coral. Compact branching: where branches of a colony are close together. Corallite: the skeleton of an individual polyp Striatopora is a type of branching tabulate coral. Stylophora pistillata. Coral: for the specific purpose of Coral ID, the term coral is short for zooxanthellate scleractinian coral. Branching refers to any branching coral, such as Acropora species. Mussa angulosa. Blade Fire Coral. 03. Mycetophyllia aliciae. 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