species: Turbinaria reniformis in Green Island (Gaia Guide)
Green Island > Animalia > Cnidaria > Hexacorallia > Dendrophylliidae > Turbinaria reniformis (gallery)
Turbinaria reniformis


©Andy: A colony of Turbinaria reniformis at Waton's Bay

©Andy: Macro image of Turbinaria reniformis showing the typical form of the corallites

©Andy: Large colony of Turbinaria reniformis in shallow water at Watson's Bay

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Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Order Scleractinia
Family Dendrophylliidae
Genus Turbinaria
Species Turbinaria reniformis
Status vulnerable

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Distinguishing features

A species that forms conspicuous yellow-green colonies composed of unifacial, convoluted layers. Corallites are large, widely spaced and conical. Colonies are dark green-black in colour.

Size

  • Size data has not been obtained.

Synonyms

Distribution


©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution

Distribution and habitat preferences

Reef fronts, passes, sheltered back reef areas.

Can be found in most habitats around Lizard Island.

Behaviour

Colony morphology is substantially affected by location, with deeper colonies forming large convoluted plates, while shallow colonies are composed of tightly packed layers. This species is relatively tolerant to bleaching and not generally targeted by Crown of Thorns Starfish.

Web resources

References

  • Baird, A.H. and P.A. Marshall (2000). Bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef: differential susceptibilities among taxa, Coral Reefs, 19: 155-163.
  • Dornelas, M. (2006). Coral assemblages and neutral theory. PhD thesis, James Cook University. LIRS catalog number 1626.
  • Dornelas, M. and S.R. Connolly (2008). Multiple modes in a coral species abundance distribution, Ecology Letters, 11: 1008-1016. LIRS catalog number 1145.
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