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| hard corals text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Zoantharia/Hexacorallia > Order Scleractinia > Family Acroporidae > Montipora sp. |
| Montipora
corals Montipora sp. Family Acroporidae updated Nov 2019 Where seen? These corals are often seen on many of our Southern shores. As a group, various Montipora species are found from deep water to clear reefs as well as lagoons with murky waters. Some species are relatively fast growing. Features: Colonies may be plate-like, branching, encrusting to somewhat spherical. Sometimes, the same species may have different growth forms, even one colony may have different shapes. In branching forms, the branch tips are usually white and smooth, lacking polyps. In plate-like forms, the edges usually paler, smooth and lacking polyps. Corallites and polyps are tiny (0.2-0.5cm or smaller). Polyps look like tiny sea anemones, with short body column and short tentacles. When expanded, the tiny polyps of some species give a fuzzy appearance. Thus, they are sometimes called velvet corals. But in other species, the polyps are so tiny that the colony appears smooth and stony. The polyps are usually only extended at night. There are probably several different species on these pages. It's hard to distinguish them without close examination of small features. On this website, they are grouped by large external features for convenience of display. Role in the habitat: Montipora corals are among the important building blocks of a reef. Together with Acropora coral (Acropora sp.), another member of the Family Acroporidae, montipora corals account for one-third of reef-building coral species. Those with branching forms provide shelter for all kinds of animals including seahorses, tiny clams and all kinds of crabs. Human uses: Montipora corals are taken from the wild for the live aquarium trade and wild colonies are often taken from the natural reefs to supply this demand. There are efforts to cultivate some of the hardier, faster-growing Montipora species for the live aquarium trade so as to reduce collection pressure from the wild. Although captive bred corals are healthier and easier to care for than wild collected specimens, captive bred corals are more expensive. Status and threats: Some of our Montipora corals are listed as threatened on the IUCN global listing. Like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Trampling by careless visitors, and over-collection by hobbyists also have an impact on local populations. |
 Seahorse in a branching montipora. Sisters Islands, Nov 03 |
 Machine gun shrimp in a branching montipora. Cyrene Reef, Aug 10 |
 Coral clams wedged among the branches. Sisters Island, Dec 05 |
| Some Montipora corals on Singapore shores |
| Montipora
species recorded for Singapore from Danwei Huang, Karenne P. P. Tun, L. M Chou and Peter A. Todd. 30 Dec 2009. An inventory of zooxanthellate sclerectinian corals in Singapore including 33 new records, **the species found on many shores in Danwei's paper. *Groups based on in Veron, Jen. 2000. Corals of the World. in red are those listed as threatened on the IUCN global list.
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