Favites Explained

Favites is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Members of this genus are native to the Indo-Pacific region and their ranges extend from the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean as far as Japan, the Line Islands and the Tuamotu Islands.^[1]

Characteristics

Colonies can be encrusting but are usually massive and dome-shaped. The corallites are mostly cerioid (sharing a common wall), but some are plocoid (with an individual wall) and the palliform lobes are indistinct, which distinguishes these corals from the otherwise similar Goniastrea.^[1]

Species

The following species are currently recognized by the World Register of Marine Species :

• Favites abdita (Ellis & Solander, 1786)
• Favites acuticollis (Ortmann, 1889)
• Favites chinensis (Verrill, 1866)
• Favites colemani (Veron, 2000)
• Favites complanata (Ehrenberg, 1834)
• Favites favosa (Ellis & Solander, 1786)
• Favites flexuosa (Dana, 1846)
• Favites halicora (Ehrenberg, 1834)
• Favites magnistellata (Chevalier, 1971)
• Favites melicerum (Ehrenberg, 1834)
• Favites micropentagonus Veron, 2000
• Favites monticularis Mondal, Raghunathan & Venkataraman, 2013
• Favites paraflexuosus Veron, 2000
• Favites pentagona (Esper, 1795)
• Favites rotundata Veron, Pichon & Wijsman-Best, 1977
• Favites solidocolumellae Latypov, 2006
• Favites spinosa (Klunzinger, 1879)
• Favites stylifera Yabe & Sugiyama, 1937
• Favites valenciennesi (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849)
• Favites vasta (Klunzinger, 1879)

Fossil record

Fossils of Favites are found in marine strata from the Jurassic to the Quaternary (age range: from 161.2 to 0.0 million years ago.). Fossils are known from many localities in Europe, Indonesia, Philippines, Africa, North America, South America, Pakistan, Japan and India.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Book: Sprung, Julian . Corals: A quick reference guide . 1999 . Ricordea Publishing . 1-883693-09-8 . 110–111 .
2. https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=6439 The Paleobiology Database