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Trees- ShrubsCup Coral ( Caryophyllia sp. )
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Caryophyllia sp. is an azooxanthellate coral species of approximately 12mm in height (1). The corallum is straight, ceratoid and attached firmly to the substrate by a robust pedicel (2). The cup coral is approximately 1mm in diameter and 12mm in height
Septa symmetry is variable, but hexameral symmetry is the most common, with four cycles of septa present (3); the theca has a covering of porcelaneous granules and the costae is inconspicuous (2). The corallum is fascicular and has a white colouration (3; 4)
The genus Caryophyllia consists of two sub-genus, Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) (Lamarck, 1816) and Caryophyllia (Acanthocyathus) (Milne Edward & Haime, 1848); within the genus itself, there are 68 species (5).
All members of the Genus Caryophyllia are solitary (4).
The cup coral is usually found on vertical or overhanging rock faces (2; 6). Caryophyllia sp. is azooxanthellate, so it is commonly found in deeper waters within small groups.
Caryophyllia sp. is a hermaphrodite, the hermaphroditism was found to be cyclical, with only one sex of gametes was possible at any one time, although, both gametes were found within a single mesentery (7).
The cup coral can be found within the North-East Atlantic and within the Mediterranean (6).
Not Evaluated under the IUCN Redlist (8).
Protected under Appendix II of CITES, this includes all other corals (9).
Description written by Ben Harvey (2009)
(1) Cairns, S.D., 2000. A Revision of the Shallow-water Azooxanthellate Scleractinia of the Western Atlantic. Studies on the natural history of the Caribbean region, LXXV, 1-231.
(2) Humann, P., 1993. Reef Coral Identification – Florida Caribbean Bahamas, (ed. N. Deloach). Jacksonville:New World Publications.
(3) Cairns, S.D. 1991. A Revision of the Ahermatypic Scleractinia of the Galapagos and Cocos Islands. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 504: 44.
(4) Cairns, S.D. 1994. Scleractinia of the Temperate North Pacific. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 557: 150.
(5) ITIS, 2009. ITIS Standard Report Page: Caryophyllia. [Online] Available at: http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=53540 [Accessed 13 August 2009].
(6) Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C., 2009. [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/species.asp?item=D13710
(7) Waller, R.G., Tyler, P.A. and Gage, J.D. 2005. Sexual reproduction in three hermaphroditic deep-sea Caryophyllia species (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) from the NE Atlantic Ocean. Coral Reefs. 24, 4:594-602.
(8) IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 13 August 2009.
(9) UNEP-WCMC, 2009. UNEP-WCMC Species Database: CITES-Listed Species. [Online] Available at: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/isdb/CITES/Taxonomy/tax-gs-search2.cfm?displaylanguage=eng&GenName=caryophyllia&SpcName= [Accessed 13 August 2009].
