Euphyllia corals

Corals

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Identity card

Euphyllia corals

Scientific name:: Euphyllia sp.

Family:: Caryophylliidae

Class:: Anthozoa

Phylum:: Cnidaria

Year of description:: N/A

IUCN Status:: Vulnerable

Distribution:: This type of coral is found in the Red Sea and in the Indo-Pacific Ocean as far as Samoa.

Habitat:: Euphyllia corals live between 2 and 35 metres deep in coral reefs.

Size:: N/A

Diet:: Zooplankton

They feed on zooplankton that they catch with their tentacles, which are extended during the day.

Biomimetics: a new material that imitates coral help to remove toxic heavy metals such as mercury from the ocean.

They can reproduce asexually.

Did you know?

Where is the animal to be found?

Euphyllia corals live between 2 and 35 metres deep in coral reefs.

How can it be recognised?

Euphyllia corals are hard corals that live in colonies. Their polyps are very large and the skeletons, called corallites, are formed of separate elongated tubes called phaceloids. They belong to the reef-building Scleratinia, or hard corals. The tentacles of Euphyllia cause a painful rash. These are very ancient corals that were living when the first mammals roamed the earth.

What is distinctive about it?

Euphyllia corals help to create an important and diverse reef ecosystem. The more diverse a reef is, the more resilient it is. As well as the ecological benefit they bring, corals reefs are of major economic, social and cultural importance for the countries they border. They play a large part in regulating the greenhouse effect and global warming.