''Pocillopora meandrina'', commonly known as cauliflower coral, 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 ...

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

occurring in the Indo-Pacific and Pacific oceans. This coral lives in shallow reef environments.

Description

The colonies of ''P. meandrina'' can be fairly solid and dome-shaped or branching with areas that are either flattened and ridge-like or fine and convoluted.Veron, J.E.N. (2000) Corals of the World. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townville, Australia The colonies are covered by wart-like growths called verrucae. The colour ranges from brown to pink and the polyps with their extended

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 are usually visible only at night.Veron, J.E.N. (1986) Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific. Angus & Robertson Publishers, London, UK

Distribution and habitat

''P. meandrina'' occurs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is found across a range of habitats that include exposed

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

s, protected lagoons and lower reef slopes.

Biology

''P. meandrina'' is a

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

and each polyp contains four sets of male and four sets of female

gonad A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a mixed gland that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gonad, the testicle, produces sper ...

s. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e develop inside the body of the polyp and are not expelled into the water until they are mature. They remain free swimming for a number of weeks before settling and starting to build a hard matrix. The polyps can also

reproduce asexually Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the fu ...

by fragmentation.Green, E. and Shirley, F. (1999) The Global Trade in Corals. World Conservation Press, Cambridge, UK The polyps feed by capturing tiny

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

with their tentacles. They also contain

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, microscopic

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

, which are able to

photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...

e. These

symbionts 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 ...

produce energy-rich compounds which the polyps metabolise while the rigid structure of the shallow water coral provides a stable, well-lit, protective environment for the algae to flourish. Red-spotted guard crab protecting its cauliflower coral.jpg, A red-spotted guard crab living in a cauliflower coral. Pocillopora meandrina-tidepool.jpg, In tidepool,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

References

External links

* Information including a map of distribution of the specie

* Aquarium information about how much light various coral species need. Includes a detailed close-up vie

* ARKive: ''Pocillopora meandrina'

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2000024 Pocilloporidae Cnidarians of the Indian Ocean Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Marine fauna of Oceania Marine fauna of North America Marine fauna of South America Marine fauna of Southeast Asia Taxa named by James Dwight Dana Articles containing video clips Corals described in 1846