Astrocoeniidae Explained

Astrocoeniidae is a family of stony corals. The family is distributed across the tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.^[1]

Description

Astrocoeniids include both hermatypic and ahermatypic (reef-building) colonial corals, both with and without symbiotic zooxanthellae. The family is made up of both branching and encrusting species which can range in size from less than 5cm (02inches) to more than 30m (100feet) across.^[1]

Species

The World Register of Marine Species includes the following genera and species in the family:^[2]

• Astrocoenia Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 †
  • Astrocoenia blanfordi Duncan, 1880 †
  • Astrocoenia cellulata Duncan, 1880 †
  • Astrocoenia dachiardii Duncan, 1873 †
  • Astrocoenia decaphylla Duncan, 1863 †
  • Astrocoenia gibbosa Duncan, 1880 †
• Palauastrea Yabe & Sugiyama, 1941
  • Palauastrea ramosa Yabe & Sugiyama, 1941
• Stephanocoenia Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848
  • Stephanocoenia incrustans Duncan, 1873 †
  • Stephanocoenia intersepta (Lamarck, 1816) - synonym, Stephanocoenia michelini
  • Stephanocoenia maxima Duncan, 1880 †
  • Stephanocoenia microtuberculata Duncan, 1880 †
  • Stephanocoenia reussi Duncan, 1868 †
  • Stephanocoenia tenuis Duncan, 1863 †
• Stylocoenia Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 †
  • Stylocoenia maxima Duncan, 1880 †
  • Stylocoenia ranikoti Duncan, 1880 †
  • Stylocoenia taurinensis Michelin, 1842 †
• Stylocoeniella Yabe & Sugiyama, 1935
  • Stylocoeniella armata (Ehrenberg, 1834)
  • Stylocoeniella cocosensis Veron, 1990
  • Stylocoeniella guentheri (Bassett-Smith, 1890)
  • Stylocoeniella nikei Benzoni & Pichon, 2004

Notes and References

1. http://biophysics.sbg.ac.at/coral/astrocoe.htm Family Astrocoeniidae
2. Web site: WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Astrocoeniidae Koby, 1890. www.marinespecies.org. 2019-04-22.