Heliopora coerulea

Super Group: 
Eukaryota
Phylum: 
Cnidaria
Class: 
Anthozoa
Order: 
Helioporacea
Family: 
Helioporidae
Genus: 
Heliopora
Species: 
coerulea
Authority: 
(Pallas, 1766)

Diagnosis

Often brown and don't appear blue at all. Secondly, although they have a hard skeleton, they are not grouped with other hard corals.
Colonies 15-30cm, polyps about 0.5cm. Their internal skeletons are blue, hence their common name. The blue colour is due to the iron salts that are incorporated into their skeletons. On the outside, they are usually brown because the thin layer of brownish living tissue that covers the outer surface of the skeleton. The skeletons are made of a different kind of calcium carbonate (fibro-crystalline argonite) that is more brittle than that of true hard corals. Inside the skeleton are tubes where the long, thin polyps live and a system of canals. Blue coral colonies are usually boulder shaped with knobs. They may also have thick leaf-like forms or columns, and may even be encrusting or plate-like. 

Observation site(s)

SYMBIONTS

Displaying 1 - 21 of 21
Association with... Region origin Name of site In reference...
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Mariana Islands
Pochon X, Stat M, Takabayashi M, Chasqui L, Chauka LJ, Logan DDK, GATES RUTHD (2010) COMPARISON OF ENDOSYMBIOTIC AND FREE-LIVING SYMBIODINIUM (DINOPHYCEAE) DIVERSITY IN A HAWAIIAN REEF ENVIRONMENT1. Journal of Phycology 46:53 - 65. doi: 10.1111/(ISSN)1529-881710.1111/jpy.2010.46.issue-110.1111/j.1529-8817.2009.00797.x
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium- clade C Great Barrier Reef
VAN OPPEN MJH, MIEOG JC, SANCHEZ CA, FABRICIUS KE (2005) Diversity of algal endosymbionts (zooxanthellae) in octocorals: the roles of geography and host relationships. Molecular Ecology 14:2403 - 2417. doi: 10.1111/mec.2005.14.issue-810.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02545.x
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium- clade C Guam
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Great Barrier Reef
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket
Symbiodinium sp. Phuket