Sunflower Coral

Appearance

Characters: Colonies are submassive or are short thick columns. Columellae are prominent, dome-shaped, and commonly divided into six parts, each part having a deltaic pattern of four septa. Polyps have large oral cones.
Colour: Pale or dark brown or green. Oral cones are usually white or blue (which may photograph pink).

Naming

Parent
Goniopora de Blainville, 1830
Orig. name
Goniopora djiboutiensis Vaughan, 1907
Synonymised names
Goniopora pulvinella Wells, 1954 (synonymy)

Distribution

Tropical, from Red Sea to Indo-Pacific.

Status

Least Concern

Habitat

May form large single species stands in turbid water. 5 - 20 meter depth.