Stylophora sp. indet.

Fassbender, Nico, Stefanoudis, Paris V, Filander, Zoleka Nontlantla, Gendron, Gilberte, Mah, Christopher L, Mattio, Lydiane, Mortimer, Jeanne A, Moura, Carlos J, Samaai, Toufiek, Samimi-Namin, Kaveh, Wagner, Daniel, Walton, Rowana & Woodall, Lucy C, 2021, Reef benthos of Seychelles - A field guide, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 65970-65970 : 65970

Stylophora sp. indet.

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Stylophora; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa; order: Scleractinia; family: Pocilloporidae; genus: Stylophora; scientificNameAuthorship: Schweigger, 1820; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Seychelles; locality: Aldabra N 1, Alphonse N 1, Astove W 1, Poivre E 1 ; minimumDepthInMeters: 9.6 m; maximumDepthInMeters: 10 m; locationRemarks: First Descent : Seychelles Expedition ; Identification : identifiedBy: Gilberte Gendron , Nico Fassbender , Paris Stefanoudis , Rowana Walton ; dateIdentified: 2019, 2020; identificationRemarks: identified only from imagery; Event : samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR SCUBA; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Colonies branching or encrusting. Morphology is correlated to wave action energy levels of the surrounding environment - higher wave action leads to a more compact and dense growth of the colony. Branches have blunt ends and can be very thick. The surface appears rough and the corallites are very small, 1.0 mm in diameter and hooded towards the end of each branch. No verrucae present. Branches resemble teddy bear legs due to their thick appearance. Maximum recorded size: 30 cm across. Colouration pale brown. Pocillopora appears similar, but has verrucae on its surface and black corallites (Fig. 102 ).

Figures

Figure 102. Stylophora sp. indet. Branching colony. Astove W 1, 10 m.