''Echinopora fruticulosa'' is a

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 ...

stony coral Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a ...

in the

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

Merulinidae Merulinidae is a family of reef-building stony corals. Characteristics All the genera in this family are colonial, reef-building corals. Skeletal structures are similar to those of Faviidae but are highly fused, without paliform lobes. The vall ...

Description

Colonies of ''Echinopora fruticulosa'' form dome-shaped clumps reaching a maximum diameter of and height of . It is an entirely ramose species, with single tubular

corallite A corallite is the skeletal cup, formed by an individual stony coral polyp, in which the polyp sits and into which it can retract. The cup is composed of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, and is secreted by the polyp. Corallit ...

s of about in diameter, developed all around the branches. The basic color of these corals is pinkish-brown with pale

Distribution and habitat

These widespread but not very common corals can be found in the Red Sea, the southwestern Indian Ocean, Madagascar and Comoros, usually in reefs close to sandy patches, at a depth of .IUCN
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References

Merulinidae Corals described in 1879 {{scleractinia-stub