831 species

Goniastrea palauensis

(Yabe and Sugiyama, 1936)

Goniastrea

Milne Edwards and Haime, 1848

Characters: Colonies are massive and usually flattened or hillocky. Polyps are cerioid, with thick walls. Columellae are small and are surrounded by a crown of tall paliform lobes. Septa are straight, with a neat appearance.

Colour: Usually brown or dull green becoming dark in deep water. Oral discs are usually cream but may be bright green.

Similar Species: Goniastrea aspera and G. peresi, which have smaller corallites. See also Favites russelli, which is usually subplocoid, has smaller corallites, relatively irregular septa and smaller paliform lobes.

Habitat: Most reef environments.

Abundance: Usually uncommon.

Taxonomic Note: Placed in genus Coelastrea by Huang, Benzoni, Fukami et al. (2014). However, this genus is a synonym of Platygyra.

COTW History since Veron (2000a)
  • Family: All families are currently under review
  • Genus/species: No change