''Leptastrea'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of massive reef building
stony corals
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 mo ...
known primarily from the
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth.
In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
. Although previously assigned to
Faviidae, Budd et al. (2012) assigned it to Scleractinia ''incertae sedis'' based on phylogenetic results demonstrating the polyphyly of Faviidae.
[Budd, Ann F.; Fukami, Hironobu; Smith, Nathan D.; Knowlton, Nancy (2012). "Taxonomic classification of the reef coral family Mussidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 166 (3): 465–529. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00855.x.]
Species
The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species:
*''
Leptastrea aequalis''
Veron, 2000
*''
Leptastrea bewickensis''
Veron, Pichon, and Best, 1977[Fenner, Douglas (2005). ''Corals of Hawai'i : field guide to the hard, black, and soft corals of Hawai'i and the northwest Hawaiian Islands, including Midway.'' Honolulu, Hawai'i: Mutual Pub. .]
*''
Leptastrea bottae''
(Milne Edwards and Haime, 1849)
*''
Leptastrea inaequalis''
Klunzinger, 1879
*''
Leptastrea pruinosa''
Crossland, 1952[
*'' Leptastrea purpurea'' (Dana, 1846) - (Ocellated brain coral)][
*'' Leptastrea transversa'' Klunzinger, 1879][
]
References
Taxa named by Henri Milne-Edwards
Taxa named by Jules Haime
Scleractinia genera
{{Scleractinia-stub