63 photos - 46 species
Introduction
2015: Due to fishing, climate change and environmental damage,
corals are coming under increasing pressure worldwide.
Destroyed coral reefs can be found all over the world's oceans.
The Great Barrier Reef, for example, has seen its coral density
fall from 28% to 13.8% in the last 27 years, which is more than half.
Coral reefs are one of the most fascinating and species-rich
communities on our planet.
It is a community of organisms that have developed very different abilities and characteristics.
A coral reef can form anywhere where the sea floor is close
enough to the sea surface, where there is enough light
for the corals and the water temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade.
These conditions are only limited within the latitudes 25°N to 25°S,
the so-called reef belt.
Outside this zone, there are only isolated cold-water reefs.
It took a very long time for corals to be recognised as animals,
because the similarity of sea anemones to a flower
led to them being mistaken for plants until the 18th century.
A - Z
Acropora cervicornis
Staghorn coral
Size: 30 - 240 cm
Depth: 0.3 - 50 m
Antler-shaped colonies.
Fragile cylindrical branches, often tangled.
Brown to yellow-brown in colour.
Polyps are usually retracted during the day
Under normal conditions they grow 12 to 15 cm per year.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Acropora hemprichii
Acropora hemprichii
Open, bush-like thickets, their side branches become irregularly thick.
Beige to blue-violet in colour.
Size up to 1.5 m in diameter.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Acropora humilis
Finger coral
Their calyxes are arranged in rows.
They are found on upper reef slopes and outer reef tops.
Grow up to 20 cm in diameter.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Acropora hyacinthus
Stone coral
Up to 2 metres in diameter, forming large, flat canes.
Their many branches are relatively short, their ends curved upwards.
They can be found on reef tops and reef platforms.
Rays, bottom sharks and various fish species are often seen at the base of the table.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bali Indonesia
Acropora lamarcki
Acropora lamarcki
It forms horizontal tables.
Size up to 2 metres in diameter.
Photos 1 - 2 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Acropora pharaonis
Acropora pharaonis
Their branches are looser in deep water.
Is readily accepted as a home by the lemon goby.
Size up to 1.5 m in diameter.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Acropora prolifera
Fused staghorn coral
Size: 30 - 120 cm
Depth: 0.3 - 30 m
Like Acropora cervicornis ( see above ) but the branch tips have fused to form plates.
However, individual tips are still recognisable.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Agaricia agaricites
Purple lettuce coral
Size: 10 - 90 cm
Depth 1 - 72 m
Thick crusts or hemispherical, with edges of different heights.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Agaricia fragilis
Fragile saucer coral or Constricted leaf coral
Size: 10 - 15 cm
Depth: 6 - 54 m
Forms small, thin, saucer-shaped colonies.
Colour: greenish brown, yellow-brown, chocolate brown and purple-brown.
Smooth underside, brittle.
Photo 1 Astrid: Bonaire Caribbean
Agaricia grahamae
Graham's sheet coral
Size: 50 cm
Depth: 10 - 76 m
Rusty brown in colour, usually with a light edge.
A special feature is the light colour of the polyps,
which stand out very well against the brown colour of the coral.
It forms flat plates.
Common in the Caribbean
Photos 1 - 2 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Agaricia lamarcki
Lamarck's sheet coral
Size: 30 - 180 cm
Depth 4 - 45 m
Large thin leaves or flat plates, often overlapping like shingles on the reef slope.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Alveopora tizardi
Daisy coral, Stony coral or Flowerpot coral
Size 20 cm
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Annella mollis
Giant gorgonian sea fan, Gorgonian fan or Giant sea fan
This species can reach truly gigantic dimensions.
They grow up to 4 metres in height and up to 3 metres in width.
Variable colours: from orange to pink and cream.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Photos 2 - 5 Johnny: Bali Indonesia
Danafungia horrida
Klunzinger's Mushroom coral
Maximum diameter: 6 cm
Flat and round coral disc.
They are brown to rust-red in colour.
Photo 1 Johnny: Lembeh Strait North - Sulawesi
Dendrogyra cylindrus
Pillar coral
Size: up to 3 m high
Depth: 0 - 25 m
Their polyps are always open, even during the day.
Light to dark brown in colour.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Diploria labyrinthiformis
Grooved brain coral, Labyrinthine brain coral
or Depressed brain coral
Size: 30 - 120 cm
Depth: 1 - 40 m
Hemispherical heads with narrow, deep furrows surrounded by wide edges.
Colour variants: Brown, yellow-brown and brownish grey.
Photos 1 - 2 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Euplexaura sp.
Sea fan
Maximum 40 cm
Never form a close-meshed network.
Active day and night.
Found in medium water depths.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Eusmilia fastigiata
Eusmilia fastigiata
Size: 25 cm
Depth: 0 - 60 m
It is the only one of its kind and lives in the Caribbean.
In addition to light, it also utilises planktonic food.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Fungia fungites
Common Mushroom coral
Maximum diameter: 20 cm
They use their polyps to catch plankton at night.
Their colour varies from grey-green to yellow-brown and even pink.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bali Indonesia
Fungia sp.
Mushroom coral
Maximum diameter: 15 cm
It owes its name to its purple colour.
Photo 1 Johnny: Embudu Maldives
Photo 2 Johnny: Bali Indonesia
Goniopora albiconus
Stony coral
The polyps of this species have a large, white and conical oral disc surrounded
by fine and thin tentacles.
It has 24 tentacles, other species have 12.
Photo 1 Johnny: Lembeh Strait North - Sulwesi
Herpolitha limax
Tongue coral, Slipper coral, Boomerang coral
or Striate boomerang coral
Maximum length: 62 cm
Depth: 2 - 54 m
Elongated with rounded ends, several mouth openings.
Often forked.
Live in lagoons and on outer reef slopes.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Madracis myriaster
Stony coral
This coral is a stony coral from the family of large polyp stony corals, that originally comes
from the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea.
There, the coral, which can grow up to 100 cm in size,
can be found at depths of between 20 and 1200 metres.
As a rule, this species does not grow as quickly as other large-polyped species.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Meandrina meandrites
Maze coral
Size: 35 cm
Depth: 0.5 - 80 m
Threatened with extinction.
It is mainly found on the outer coral reef slopes
in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
They form hemispherical heads or develop into large flat plates
and can reach a diameter of almost 1 metre.
Some small colonies are cone-shaped
and not attached to the substrate.
Photos 1 - 2 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Millepora complanata
Bladed fire coral
Size: 50 cm
Depth: 0 - 55 m
It owes its name to the cnidocytes, which are capable of damaging human skin
and injecting a painful poison
The wounds can become infectious and even leave scars.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Millepora alcicornis
Branching coral or Encrusting firecoral
Size: 3 - 40 cm
Depth 0 - 15 m
They form upright, thin plates or leaves.
Brownish to mustard yellow and brown, white leaf edges.
Toxic, contact with skin causes intense pain, but this usually only lasts for a short time.
Wheals and rashes can develop.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Millepora dichotoma
Net fire coral
Width: up to 100 cm
It nettles very strongly, pustules can be a faithful companion for days.
Plankton eater.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Montastraea cavernosa
Stony coral
Size: 200 cm
Depth: 0 - 110 m
These are robust, mostly spherical growing stony corals.
It is one of the most important reef-building corals in the Caribbean.
Photos 1 - 3 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Mycedium elephantotus
Green eyed cup coral or Elephant nose coral
Size up to 1 m
Found below the wave zone with moderate current.
Photo 1 Johnny: El Quesir Egypt
Mycetophyllia aliciae
Knobby cactus coral
Size: up to 60 cm
Depth: 0 - 70 m
The coral has a flat, thin and almost circular shape.
It occurs in all reef areas and needs a good current.
Not common.
Photo 1 Astrid: Bonaire Caribbean
Mycetophyllia danaana
Lowridge cactus coral
Size: 25 - 30 cm
Depth: 20 - 76 m
Colonies are solid, rounded plates.
Colour: Usually combinations of pink, green and grey, with valleys and walls in contrasting colours.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Platygyra daedalea
Brain coral or Lesser valley coral
They have irregular crusts or are solid, with thick walls.
They have rough ribs.
Reach a diameter of 2 metres.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Porites porites
Clubbed finger coral or Club tip finger coral
Size: 30 - 120 cm.
Depth 1 - 50 m
Smooth branches.
There are three forms of this species.
1) Strong, irregular, stocky branches with blunt, often thickened ends.
2) Finger-like, widely spaced branches that are often split at the ends.
3) Finger-like, densely packed branches.
Colour variations: brown, grey, beige to yellow-brown, grey with purple tones.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Pseudodiploria strigosa
Brain coral or Symmetrical brain coral
Size: 15 - 180 cm
Depth 1 - 40 m
Slabs with smooth contours to hemispherical domes.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Scolymia cubensis
Artichoke coral
Size: 3 - 10 cm
Depth 9 - 78 m
Single, large, round to oval, fleshy type.
Colour variations: dark grey to brown, green and blue-green.
Their polyp tentacles are retracted during the day.
Photos 1 - 2 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Scolymia lacera
Atlantic mushroom coral
Maximum size 6 cm
Maximum depth: 10 - 80 m
At home in reefs and lagoons on hard substrates, as well as in areas with soft substrate, up to a range of 80 m, but mostly at depths of 15 - 25 m
Photo 1 Astrid: Bonaire Caribbean
Scolymia wellsii
Button scolly
Maximum size: 10 cm
Maximum depth: 10 - 40 m
Very sensitive to currents, therefore always under reef tops and other sheltered areas.
Photo 1 Astrid: Bonaire Caribbean
Siderastrea radians
Lesser starlet coral or Rough starlet coral
Size: 10 - 30 cm
Depth: 0 - 30 m
Slabs or small irregular domes.
Often whitish to light grey, also light yellow-brown.
On rock or sand.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Siderastrea stellata ( Massive Sternchenkoralle )
Brazilian starlet coral
Size: 25 cm
Depth: 0 - 65 m
Huge colonies.
Occasionally they occur as free-living, mobile spheres.
Corallites are rounded and flat and have a diameter of 2.5 to 3.5 millimetres.
Septa have curved upper edges and are granulated.
Most are not fused and do not form distinct cycles.
Reddish brown with light-coloured walls.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Solenastrea bournoni
Smooth star coral
Size: 10 - 45 cm.
Depth 1.5 - 18 m
Edges protrude clearly, which makes the coral look pimply.
Cream-coloured to light yellow-brown.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Solenastrea hyades
Knobby star coral
Size: up to 530 cm
There are only 2 species: Solenastrea Bournoni,
see one picture above and this one.
It forms massive colonies with hemispherical domes,
the surface of which is slightly irregular or smooth.
Rare coral.
Photo 1 Astrid: Bonaire Caribbean
Stephanocoenia intersepta
Blushing star coral
Size 15 - 75 cm
Depth 3 - 40 m
They form reasonably smooth blocks or domes.
Colour variations: Yellow-brown to brownish, brown or grey.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Stylophora pistillata
Smooth cauliflower coral
Brown to purple.
Finger-like, with terminal branching.
Colonises outer reef slopes with moderate currents, as well as lagoons.
Can be seen down to a depth of 20 metres.
Photos 1 - 2 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Thalamophyllia riisei
Baroque cave coral
Size: 2 cm
Depth: 4 - 1300 m
Usually lives on shady, vertical rock surfaces and in crevices and caves.
Live solitary and in larger groups without connection to each other.
Little is known about this species and the depths at which they live,
as there is varying information.
Photo 1 Johnny: Bonaire Caribbean
Tubastraea micranthus
Black tube coral or Black coral
Maximum diameter: 1 m
Dark brown to green bushes.
The only reef-building coral without zooxanthellae.
Colonises reef edges and shady overhangs in current-rich reefs.
Diet: Large plankton and salps.
Photo 1 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt
Turbinaria reniformis
Yellow scroll coral
Colonies in rows or sheets.
Conical polyp calyxes.
Yellow-green in colour.
Colonises clear, semi-protected slopes with moderate currents.
Diameter up to 3 metres.
Photo 1 Astrid: Hurghada Egypt
Photo 2 Johnny: Hurghada Egypt