''Montipora'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Scleractinia Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a ...

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...

s in the

phylum In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature ...

Cnidaria Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that ...

. Members of the genus ''Montipora'' may exhibit many different growth morphologies. With eighty five known species, ''Montipora'' is the second most species rich coral genus after ''

Acropora ''Acropora'' is a genus of small polyp stony coral in the phylum Cnidaria. Some of its species are known as table coral, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral. Over 149 species are described. ''Acropora'' species are some of the major reef corals r ...

''.

Description

Montipora coral, Arthur Bay, Magnetic Island, January 2016

Growth morphologies for the genus ''Montipora'' include submassive, laminar, foliaceous, encrusting, and branching. It is not uncommon for a single ''Montipora'' colony to display more than one growth morphology. Healthy ''Montipora'' corals can be a variety of colors, including orange, brown, pink, green, blue, purple, yellow, grey, or tan. Although they are typically uniform in color, some species, such as ''Montipora spumosa'' or ''Montipora verrucosa'', may display a mottled appearance. ''Montipora'' corals have the smallest

corallite A corallite is the skeletal cup, formed by an individual stony coral polyp, in which the polyp sits and into which it can retract. The cup is composed of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, and is secreted by the polyp. Corall ...

s of any coral family. Columellae are not present.

Coenosteum In corals, the coenosteum is the stony skeletal material secreted by the coenosarc, the layer of living material lying between the corallites (the stony cups in which the polyps sit). The coenosteum is composed of aragonite Aragonite is a carbo ...

and corallite walls are porous, which can result in elaborate structures. The coenosteum of each ''Montipora'' species is different, making it useful for identification. Polyps are typically only extended at night. ''Montipora'' corals are commonly mistaken for members of the genus ''

Porites ''Porites'' is a genus of stony coral; they are small polyp stony (SPS) corals. They are characterised by a finger-like morphology. Members of this genus have widely spaced calices, a well-developed wall reticulum and are bilaterally symm ...

'' based on their visual similarities, however, ''Porites'' can be distinguished from ''Montipora'' by examining the structure of the corallites.

Distribution

''Montipora'' corals are common on reefs and lagoons of the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

, the western Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean, but are entirely absent in the Atlantic Ocean.

Ecology

''Montipora'' corals are

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...

broadcast spawners. Spawning typically happens in spring. The eggs of ''Montipora'' corals already contain

zooxanthellae Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus ''S ...

, so none is obtained from the environment. This process is known as direct or vertical transmission. ''Montipora'' corals are preyed upon by corallivorous fish, such as

butterflyfish The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlan ...

. ''Montipora'' corals are known to host endo- and ectoparasites such as ''Allopodion mirum'' and ''Xarifia extensa''. A currently undescribed species of nudibranch in the genus ''Phestilla'' has also been reported in the scientific and aquarium hobbyist literature to feed on the genus. ''Montipora'' corals are susceptible to the same stresses as other Scleractinian corals, such as anthropogenic pollution, sediment, algal growth, and other competitive organisms.

Evolutionary history

A 2007 study found that the genus ''Montipora'' formed a strongly supported clade with ''

Anacropora ''Anacropora'' is a genus of stony corals in the Acroporidae family. They are sometimes called briar corals and there are seven known species. Description Members of this genus are generally fragile corals with branches less than ten centimetres ...

'', making it the genus with the closest genetic relationship to ''Montipora''. It is thought that ''Anacropora'' evolved from ''Montipora'' relatively recently.

Gallery

File:Leaf plate montipora.gk.jpg, '' Montipora capricornis'' File:Montipora aequituberculata, coralitos.jpeg, Polyps of ''

Montipora aequituberculata ''Montipora aequituberculata'' is a species of stony coral in the family Acroporidae. It is a common coral in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region. Distribution and habitat ''Montipora aequituberculata'' is native to the Indo-Pacific region ...

'' File:Montipora aequituberculata, Ningaloo.jpg, ''Montipora aequituberculata'' colonies near Ningaloo Reef File:Montipora caliculata.jpg, ''Montipora caliculata'' File:Montipora capitata, Kailua.jpg, Branching colony of '' Montipora capitata'' in Hawaii File:Montipora capitata, Samoa Americana 2.jpg, Encrusting colony of '' Montipora capitata'' File:Montipora danae, pólipos.jpeg, Polyps of ''Montipora danae'' File:Montipora ehrenbergii.jpg, ''Montipora ehrenbergii'' File:Montipora grisea.jpg, '' Montipora grisea'' File:Montipora hispida, Lizard I..jpeg, ''Montipora hispida'' File:Montipora hispida, pólipos.jpeg, Polyps of ''Montipora hispida'' File:Montipora monasteriata, pólipos.jpeg, Polyps of ''Montipora monasteriata'' File:Montipora nodosa.jpg, ''Montipora nodosa'' File:Montipora tuberculosa Réunion 2.jpg, ''Montipora tuberculosa'' File:Montiporaverrucosa.jpg, ''Montipora verrucosa'' at Birch Aquarium in San Diego, CA

Species

* ''

'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora altasepta'' Nemenzo, 1967 * '' Montipora angulata'' Lamarck, 1816 * '' Montipora aspergillus'' Veron, DeVantier & Turak, 2000 * '' Montipora australiensis'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora biformis'' Nemenzo, 1988 * '' Montipora cactus'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora calcarea'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora calculata'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora capitata'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora capricornis'' Veron, 1985 * '' Montipora cebuensis'' Nemenzo, 1976 * '' Montipora circumvallata'' Ehrenberg, 1834 * '' Montipora cocosensis'' Vaughan, 1918 * '' Montipora confusa'' Nemenzo, 1967 * '' Montipora conspicua'' Nemenzo, 1979 * '' Montipora contorta'' Nemenzo & Montecillo, 1981 * '' Montipora corbettensis'' Veron & Wallace, 1984 * '' Montipora crassituberculata'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora cryptus'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora danae'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1851 * '' Montipora delicatula'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora digitata'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora dilatata'' Studer, 1901 * '' Montipora echinata'' Veron, DeVantier & Turak, 2000 * '' Montipora edwardsi'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora efflorescens'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora effusa'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora ehrenbergi'' Verrill, 1872 * '' Montipora explanata'' Brüggemann, 1879 * '' Montipora flabellata'' Studer, 1901 * '' Montipora florida'' Nemenzo, 1967 * '' Montipora floweri'' Wells, 1954 * '' Montipora foliosa'' Pallas, 1766 * '' Montipora foveolata'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora friabilis'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora gaimardi'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora gracilis'' Klunzinger, 1879 * '' Montipora grisea'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora hemispherica'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora hirsuta'' Nemenzo, 1967 * '' Montipora hispida Dana, 1846 *'' Montipora hodgsoni'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora hoffmeisteri'' Wells, 1954 * '' Montipora incrassata'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora informis'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora kellyi'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora lobulata'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora mactanensis'' Nemenzo, 1979 * '' Montipora malampaya'' Nemenzo, 1967 * '' Montipora maldivensis'' Pillai & Scheer, 1976 * '' Montipora manauliensis'' Pillai, 1967 * '' Montipora meandrina'' Ehrenberg, 1834 * '' Montipora millepora'' Crossland, 1952 * '' Montipora mollis'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora monasteriata'' Forskåi, 1775 * '' Montipora niugini'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora nodosa'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora orientalis'' Nemenzo, 1967 * '' Montipora pachytuberculata'' Veron, DeVantier & Turak * '' Montipora palawanensis'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora patula'' Verrill, 1870 * '' Montipora peltiformis'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora porites'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora samarensis'' Nemenzo, 1967 * '' Montipora saudii'' Veron, DeVantier & Turak * '' Montipora setosa'' Nemenzo, 1976 * '' Montipora sinuosa'' Pillai & Scheer, 1976 * '' Montipora spongiosa'' Ehrenberg, 1834 * '' Montipora spongodes'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora spumosa'' Lamarck, 1816 * '' Montipora stellata'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora stilosa'' * '' Montipora suvadivae'' Pillai & Scheer, 1976 * '' Montipora taiwanensis'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora tortuosa'' Dana, 1846 * '' Montipora tuberculosa'' Lamarck, 1816 * '' Montipora turgescens'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora turtlensis'' Veron & Wallace, 1984 * '' Montipora undata'' Bernard, 1897 * '' Montipora venosa'' Ehrenberg, 1834 * '' Montipora verrilli'' Vaughan, 1907 * '' Montipora verrucosa'' Lamarck, 1816 * '' Montipora verruculosa'' Veron, 2000 * '' Montipora vietnamensis'' Veron, 2000

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q145782 Acroporidae Coral reefs Scleractinia genera