Size: upto 25 cm.

 

Key Features: Pale tan or with dark centres and white corallite walls. Colonies are encrusting or are low mounds up to one metre across. Corallites are polygonal, 2-4 millimetres diameter. Septa are neatly arranged: 30-35 at the wall, fusing in neat fan-like groups so that 10-15 fuse with the columella. Walls have a fine ridge along their tops.

 

Diet: Nori-Algae, Zooxanthellae / Light.

 

Habitat: This species occurs in shallow reef environments or sandy lagoons, generally to depths of 10 m. Colonies are often partly buried in sand. This species is one of the hardiest Scleractinian species, and is often found in very high salinity and high temperature environments.

 

Conservation status: Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Siderastrea savignyana. In Reeflex , the Marine Aquarium Encyclopedia. Retrieved on June 18, 2014 from http://www.reeflex.net/tiere/4141_Siderastrea_savignyana.htm

 

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/133590/0

 

Siderastrea savignyana. In Australian Institute of Marine Science. Retrieved on June 18, 2014 from http://coral.aims.gov.au/factsheet.jsp?speciesCode=0485

 

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project, Second Interim Progress Report, GEER Foundation, June 2012

 

 

Photo Courtesy

Charlie Veron. Australian Institute of Marine  Science. Licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0 via Creative Commons

Siderastrea savignyana