''Cycloseris cyclolites'' is a species of disc coral in the family

Fungiidae The Fungiidae () are a family of Cnidaria, commonly known as mushroom corals or plate corals. The family contains thirteen extant genera. They range from solitary corals to colonial species. Some genera such as ''Cycloseris'' and ''Fungia'' ar ...

. It was first described by the French naturalist

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

in 1815. It is native to the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region where it is found on soft sediment in shallow water.

Description

A solitary disc coral, ''C. cyclolites'' is round or slightly oval, forming a dome up to wide with a hollowed out under surface. The primary

septa The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

are thick and straight with up to four more whorls of septa in larger specimens. The colour varies, usually being whitish or greenish, but shallow water specimens are sometimes brightly coloured. The primary septa often have white margins.

Distribution and habitat

''Cycloseris cyclolites'' is found in oceans of the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region. Its range extends from Madagascar, the East African coast and the Red Sea through India and Malaysia to northern Australia, Japan and various island groups in the Pacific Ocean. Its typical habitat is on soft substrate, often muddy sand, between reefs, but it also sometimes occurs on the reefs themselves. ''C. cyclolites'' is part of a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

and it is probable that reports of this species in the Western Indian Ocean should be assigned to a different species.

Ecology

This is a

zooxanthellate 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 ''Symbi ...

species of coral, meaning that the soft tissues contain

symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

unicellular

dinoflagellate The dinoflagellates (Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are ...

s which provide nutrients to their

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

. The coral is highly adapted to life on sand or mud in calm waters and is capable of shedding any sediment that threatens to blanket it. Being unattached, it is able to move about freely. Movement is made by a combination of distension of the polyp by inflating the tissues with water, and moving the

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s about. The polyp can enlarge by 300 or 400% and this reduces the density of the whole animal, allowing it to "float" to the surface of the sediment in which it has become buried.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13507539 Fungiidae Cnidarians of the Indian Ocean Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Marine fauna of Oceania Marine fauna of Southeast Asia Animals described in 1815 Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck