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Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
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Astroides calycularis - Beauty in orange
Colonial encrusting hard coral which forms extended pads of retractile polyps inside calcareous skeletons of varying prominence. A thermophilic species, it is more frequent in the southern region of the Mediterranean. Red and orange in colour. Lives on rocky bottoms with little light, from a few meters to over 50 meters. Maximum size 10 centimeters. -
Astroides calycularis - Garden of Beauty
Colonial encrusting hard coral which forms extended pads of retractile polyps inside calcareous skeletons of varying prominence. A thermophilic species, it is more frequent in the southern region of the Mediterranean. Red and orange in colour. Lives on rocky bottoms with little light, from a few meters to over 50 meters. Maximum size 10 centimeters. -
Elkhorn coral - Acropora palmata
Colonies with thick rounded or flat branches, without distinct axial corallites. Colony diameter up to 3.5 meter, and more than 1 meter in height. Branch diameter between 5 and 25 cm, and 1-3 cm thick. Golden-brown with light rims. Corallites are porous protruding tubes, less than 5 mm long and 0.5-0.8 mm in diameter. They are densely packed, with 1-2 mm in between. A columella is absent. Found on the reef up to within the reach of waves. -
False coral - Myriapora truncata
Colonial,arborescent organism with dichotomous ramifications in all directions. Short, round-section branches which appear to have been chopped off. Covered in minute pores which correspond to the individual components which make up the colony. Pinky-red in colour, fades when out of water. Found on rocky, weakly-illuminated sea-beds from 2 - 3 meters to over 90 meters. Maximum height 10 centimeters. -
False coral - Myriapora truncata - bright color
Colonial,arborescent organism with dichotomous ramifications in all directions. Short, round-section branches which appear to have been chopped off. Covered in minute pores which correspond to the individual components which make up the colony. Pinky-red in color, fades when out of water. Found on rocky, weakly-illuminated sea-beds from 2 - 3 meters to over 90 meters. Maximum height 10 centimeters. -
False coral - Myriapora truncata - Close up
Colonial,arborescent organism with dichotomous ramifications in all directions. Short, round-section branches which appear to have been chopped off. Covered in minute pores which correspond to the individual components which make up the colony. Pinky-red in colour, fades when out of water. Found on rocky, weakly-illuminated sea-beds from 2 - 3 meters to over 90 meters. Maximum height 10 centimeters. -
False coral - Myriapora truncata - Colony
Colonial,arborescent organism with dichotomous ramifications in all directions. Short, round-section branches which appear to have been chopped off. Covered in minute pores which correspond to the individual components which make up the colony. Pinky-red in colour, fades when out of water. Found on rocky, weakly-illuminated sea-beds from 2 - 3 meters to over 90 meters. Maximum height 10 centimetres. -
False coral - Myriapora truncata - In the dark
Colonial,arborescent organism with dichotomous ramifications in all directions. Short, round-section branches which appear to have been chopped off. Covered in minute pores which correspond to the individual components which make up the colony. Pinky-red in colour, fades when out of water. Found on rocky, weakly-illuminated sea-beds from 2 - 3 meters to over 90 meters. Maximum height 10 centimeters. -
Sea lace bryozoan - Sertella septentrionalis
Lacy colony made up of expanded, erect laminae with fluted edges. Colour varies from bright pink to whitish. Found on rocky, poorly-illuminated bottoms and inside caves, from 10 to 35 meters. Measures up to 10 centimeters. -
Sea lace bryozoan - Sertella septentrionalis - Attached
Lacy colony made up of expanded, erect laminae with fluted edges. Colour varies from bright pink to whitish. Found on rocky, poorly-illuminated bottoms and inside caves, from 10 to 35 meters. Measures up to 10 centimeters. -
Sea lace bryozoan - Sertella septentrionalis - In the cave
Lacy colony made up of expanded, erect laminae with fluted edges. Colour varies from bright pink to whitish. Found on rocky, poorly-illuminated bottoms and inside caves, from 10 to 35 meters. Measures up to 10 centimeters. -
Smooth star coral - Solenastrea bournoni
Colony massive, irregular mound-shaped, with a bumpy surface; diameter of colony 45 cm. Cream to light tan; extended polyps light tan to brown. Corallites 2-2.5 mm in diameter. Rims protrude noticeably from the surface of the colony, giving a blistering appearance. Columella trabecular. Found on reefs from shallow depths down to 20 meters. -
Symmetrical brain coral - Diploria strigosa
Colonies form smoothly contoured plates to hemispherical domes, up to 1.8 m in diameter. The surfaces of the colonies have long valleys, which are often connected and usually convoluted, except near the colony's edge. Ridges evenly rounded, usually without a top groove, although occasionally with an extremely fine groove, especially near the colony's edge. The costae between adjacent corallites are continuous, and all costae are equal in thickness. Valleys are highly convoluted and often interconnected. Green to brown, yellow-brown and bluish gray; valleys often lighter or have a contrasting color. Septa in more than 3 complete cycles. Thickness of the septa unequal in the different cycles, with 12-24 septa per cm. Columella continuous between the corallites centers, thick, occupying half of the corallite width. Found in many marine environments, down to 40 m.