Madracisdecactis
Madracisis an attractive species of coral often covered in stout furry polyps. This species,Madracisdecactis, grows into compact yellow lobes and is common, although not abundant.
Juvenile colonies start by encrusting onto rocks before forming short lobes or branches. As the colony grows the branches become thicker and closely clustered. The base of the coral can be covered in algae as it matures.
Madracisdecactisis usually a dark yellowish, green, or brown, and has a darker coloration thanMadracisauretenraanother species of yellow branchingMadracis.
Ten-Rayed Star Coral
真正给这个珊瑚离开shape and appearance of the polyps.Madracispolyps always have a distinct little ring on the colonies surface. Even when polyps are retracted you can still see a small ring around the corallite. All species ofMadracishave this characteristic.
The common name forMadracisdecactisis the Ten-Rayed Star Coral. In a previous article aboutHelioseris, we talked about skeletal features inside and outside of a corallite called Septa and Costea.
This coral is called the ten-rayed star coral because it has 10 septa lines inside each corallite. There is also a six-rayed and eight-rayedMadraciscoral but the ten-rayed is the most abundant.
Madraciscarmabiis another species of CaribbeanMadraciswhich has rounded yellow branches, and ten septa in each corallite, however, branch length and colony size are much larger and grandiose.Madracis carmabiismost likely a hybridbetweenM. formosa,taking the ten septa fromM. decactisand branches fromM. formosa.
You can findMadraciscoral in a variety of habitats from the shallowest parts of the reef down to 40 m (130 ft). Madraicis decactis is very widespread and you can find it in the Caribbean, off the coast of Brazil, and even the coast of West Africa.
TheCoral Diariesseries is a list of corals we have seen while diving around the world. We’ve created this series so that you can learn more about corals, and how to identify them on the reef. We encourage you to send us your coral pictures and leave a comment in the section below to learn more about the interesting species you’ve found while diving.