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| hard corals text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Zoantharia/Hexacorallia > Order Scleractinia |
| Brain
corals Family Lobophylliidae* updated Nov 2019 Where seen? These dome-shaped hard corals do somewhat resemble fleshy brains and are often seen on many of our Southern shores. Lobophyllia and Symphyllia were previously in the Family Mussidae. Features: Members of the Family Lobophylliidae develop into large colonies with heavy skeletons. The thick walls of Lobophyllia and Symphyllia form meandering valleys, and when submerged is covered with thick fleshy tissue, thus resulting in their common names. The walls have prominent 'teeth'. Some species of Lobophyllia and Symphyllia look very similar and requires close examination to differentiate. On this website they are grouped by external features for convenience of display. Sometimes mistaken for Corals with maze-like patterns (Family Faviidae), which have thinner corallite walls without large 'teeth'. Status and threats: Some members of the Family Lobophylliidae recorded for Singapore are listed as globally threatened by the IUCN. |
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
| Some Brain corals on Singapore shores |
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Lobed
brain coral
Lobophyllia sp. |
Corallite
walls are separate.
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Valleys
not as meandering.
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Grooved
brain coral
Symphyllia sp. |
Corallite
walls are joined.
There is usually a slight groove or dent along the top of the wall. |
Valleys
wide and more meandering.
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| Family
Lobophylliidae 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. in red are those listed as threatened on the IUCN global list.
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