Leptoria phrygia
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Cnidaria
Class
Hexacorallia
Order
Scleractinia
Family
Merulinidae
Genus
Leptoria
Species
Leptoria phrygia
Status
near threatened
Colours
Distinguishing features
A species that forms ridged massive colonies up to 1.5m diameter. Corallite valleys are meandroid and sinuous. Septa are similarly sized and evenly spaced. Colours are cream, brown or greenish brown.
Size
- Size data has not been obtained.
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
Reef fronts, shallow reef flats.
Can be found in most habitats around Lizard Island.
Behaviour
L. phrygia is a hermaphroditic broadcast spawner. The larvae showed no depth preference at settlement.
This species is slow growing like most massive Favid corals, with growth rates typically less than 0.5cm/year.
Web resources
References
- Babcock, R.C., G.D. Bull, P.L. Harrison, A.J. Heyward, J.K. Oliver, C.C. Wallace and B.L. Willis (1986). Synchronous spawnings of 105 scleractinian coral species on the Great Barrier Reef, Marine Biology, 90: 379-394. LIRS catalog number 300.
- Baird, A.H. (2001). The ecology of coral larvae: settlement patterns, habitat selection and the length of the larval phase, Ph.D. thesis, James Cook University. LIRS catalog number 716.
- Baird, A.H., R.C. Babcock and C.P. Mundy (2003). Habitat selection by larvae influences the depth distribution of six common coral species. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 252: 289-293.
- View all references