''Madrepora'' (Spanish, "mother of pores") is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of stony

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

s, often found forming

reefs A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition of sand or wave eros ...

or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family

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 mo ...

. They reproduce in three separate ways, as discovered by the marine zoologist Anne Thynne (1800–1866). It is commonly known as horn coral. A colony is branched with small polyps in cylindrical cups separated by a perforated coenosteum. Terminal polyps bear six tentacles, while lateral polyps bear twelve tentacles. Madrepora is economically important, since it contributes to the formation of coral reefs.

Species

Species include: * ''

Madrepora arbuscula ''Madrepora'' (Spanish, "mother of pores") is a genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family Scleractini ...

'' (Moseley, 1881) * ''

Madrepora astroites ''Madrepora'' (Spanish, "mother of pores") is a genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family Scleractini ...

'' Forskål, 1775 * ''

Madrepora carolina ''Madrepora'' (Spanish, "mother of pores") is a genus of stony corals, often found forming Coral reef, reefs or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family ...

'' (Pourtalès, 1871) * ''

Madrepora minutiseptum ''Madrepora'' (Spanish, "mother of pores") is a genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family Scleractini ...

'' Cairns & Zibrowius, 1997 * ''

Madrepora oculata ''Madrepora oculata'', also called zigzag coral, is a stony coral that is found worldwide outside of the polar regions, growing in deep water at depths of 50 to at least 1500 meters. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

* ''

Madrepora porcellana ''Madrepora'' (Spanish, "mother of pores") is a genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family Scleractini ...

'' (Moseley, 1881) * †''

Madrepora trochiformis ''Madrepora'' (Spanish, "mother of pores") is a genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family Scleractini ...

'' Pallas, 1766

References

Coral reefs Oculinidae Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Scleractinia genera {{scleractinia-stub