Astrocoeniidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of stony corals. The family is distributed across the tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.Family Astrocoeniidae
Classification of Scleractinian (Stony) Corals. Retrieved 2011-12-23.

Description

Astrocoeniids include both hermatypic and ahermatypic ( reef-building)

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

corals, both with and without symbiotic

zooxanthella Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus '' Sym ...

e. The family is made up of both branching and encrusting species which can range in size from less than to more than across.

Species

The World Register of Marine Species includes the following genera and

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the family: * '' 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

References

Scleractinia Cnidarian families {{scleractinia-stub