Goniopora tenuidens
©Andy: Goniopora tenuidens at Watson's Bay, Lizard Island, with retracted polyps on part of the colony
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Cnidaria
Class
Anthozoa
Order
Scleractinia
Family
Poritidae
Genus
Goniopora
Species
Goniopora tenuidens
Distinguishing features
A coral that forms massive and sub-massive colonies with a soft appearance when polyps are extended. Polyp tentacles are uniform in length, and typically coloured light brown or cream. The underlying tissues are sometimes a light green.
Size
- Size data has not been obtained.
Synonyms
Interesting facts
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This is one of the most aggressive coral species and its tentacles have several different stinging cells that are used to trap plankton or attack neighbouring coral:
• One has a sharp hook so as to penetrate skin
• Some of these also have venom
• Another stinging cell explodes out into a web or a meshwork of fine microfibers that captures prey much like a fishing net.
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
Protected lagoons and back reef margins.
Can be found in most habitats around Lizard Island.
Behaviour
G. tenuidens has aggressive sweeper tentacles, and has also been found to emit toxic compounds, hence other corals are not able to settle nearby, and it is resistant to feeding by Crown of Thorns Starfish and so has survived the 1990's outbreak with little loss.
This species is a gonochoric broadcast spawner.
Web resources
References
- Baird, A.H., J.R. Guest and B.L. Willis (2009). Systematic and biogeographical patterns in the reproductive biology of scleractinian corals, Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 40: 551-571.
- Gunthorpe, L. and A.M. Cameron (1990). Toxic exudate from the hard coral Goniopora tenuidens, Toxicon, 28(11): 1347-1350.
- Peach, M.B. and O. Hoegh-Guldberg (1999). Sweeper polyps of the coral Goniopora tenuidens (Scleractinia: Poritidae), Invertebrate Biology, 118(1): 1-7.
- View all references