Distinguishing features

A species that forms simple or tiered plates, and encrusting colonies. Corallites are mostly small and immersed in the skeletal matrix, and the surface of the colony is covered by obvious papillae. Most specimens are blue-purple or pale brown.

Size

Synonyms

Distribution and habitat preferences

Upper reef slopes, reef flats and back reef areas.

Can be found in most shallow habitats around Lizard Island.

Behaviour

Corals in the genus Montipora are gonochoric (seperately sexed) broadcast spawners, and are unique amongst the Acroporidae in that the oocytes already contain zooxanthellae upon release.

Montipora monasteriata has been extensively studied with respect to its alagal symbionts. It can occupy habitats with a wide variety of light regimes, from full sun to almost complete shade within caves and overhangs, and the species has been shown to have remarkable flexibility in its skeletal and tissue morphology, and symbiont photosynthetic efficiency. The endolithic filamentous green algae present in the skeletal matrix of this species have also been studied.

Web resources

References