Colours

Distinguishing features

A species that forms colonies comprising thin, contorted bifacial plates. In sheltered areas, the colony may form large mono-specific stands more than 8m in diameter. Corallites are fine, and arranged in irregular lines parallel to the frond margins. Colonies are usually brown in colour.

Size

Synonyms

Distribution

Distribution and habitat preferences

Sheltered back reef and lagoonal habitats.

Can be found in most sheltered reef habitats around Lizard Island.

Behaviour

This species reproduces by both sexual spawning and asexual fragmentation, with the latter mechanism very important in certain locations, with genetically identical clones sometimes seperated by up to 80m. A range of different colony morphologies are recognised, ranging from compact mounds to open, fragile columns.

Web resources

References