''Mycetophyllia''

''Mycetophyllia'' 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 ...

stony corals 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 ...

in the family

Mussidae Mussidae is a family of stony coral in the order Scleractinia. Following a taxonomic revision in 2012, the family is now restricted to species found in the Atlantic Ocean, with Pacific species transferred to the new family Lobophylliidae. Many ...

. The genera are native to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

and sometimes kept in reef aquariums. Like all corals in the

family, ''Mycetophyllia'' are hermatypic, or reef-building corals. They receive nutrients from their symbiotic relationship with

zooxanthellae Zooxanthellae (; zooxanthella) is a colloquial term for single-celled photosynthetic organisms that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including corals, jellyfish, demosponges, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthell ...

, which are single-celled photosynthetic

dinoflagellate The Dinoflagellates (), also called Dinophytes, are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered protists. Dinoflagellates are mostly marine plankton, but they are also commo ...

s. They are passive suspension feeders that feed on organic matter suspended in the water column.

Morphology

These coral colonies have flat disc-like or dome structures with scalloped edges. They also have

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. Corallit ...

s which cover the surface radially towards the center. Depending on the species, they may have a pattern of valleys and ridges on their surface. They are often brown, green, or grey in color and are identified by their thin plates and irregular ridge pattern. There are five known species within ''Mycetophyllia'' each with unique morphological features. ''Mycetophyllia aliciae'' is characterized by a thin, scalloped plate. ''M. aliciae'' does not have defined valleys and ridges like other species. This species reaches a maximum diameter of 1 meter. ''Mycetophyllia danaana'' is the smallest species of the genera with a diameter of 30 centimeters. M. danaana colonies have thick plates with deep narrow ridges. ''M. ferox'' has thin plates with distinctive ridges and valleys across the surface. The maximum diameter is 1 meter. ''M. lamarckiana'' forms small, round mounds rather than a plate. Valleys stretch across the surface and the species is usually light brown or grey in color. ''M. reesi'' has the thinnest plate of the all ''Mycetophyllia'' species with no ridges and a smooth surface.

Distribution

Caribbean_Sea_Gulf_of_Mexico_shaded_relief_bathymetry_land_map

''Mycetophyllia'' is a

native to the

Caribbean sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, southern

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, southern

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

. The geographic range is between the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...

and the equator at latitudes 10-25°N and longitudes 60-80°W. These

occupy benthic rocky substrates and are

hermatypic Hermatypic corals are those corals in the order Scleractinia which build reefs by depositing hard calcareous material for their skeletons, forming the stony framework of the reef. Corals that do not contribute to coral reef development are referred ...

, or reef-building corals. These corals are most abundant at depths of 10–25 meters; however, distribution greatly varies by species. The ''M. reesi'' species occupies the greatest depths found in deep-water fore reefs from 20 to 76 meters.

Life Cycle

Like many stony corals, these corals are

hermaphroditic A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

, with some species possessing both male and female

reproductive organs A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

. Sexually mature corals produce

gamete A gamete ( ) is a Ploidy#Haploid and monoploid, haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that Sexual reproduction, reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as s ...

s through

meiosis Meiosis () is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, the sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately result in four cells, each with only one c ...

. They begin their life cycle as polyps, or small, cylindrical marine invertebrates. When environmental conditions are favorable, polyps release sperm into the water column which allows new coral colonies to be fertilized through external fertilization. Coral spawning occurs once a year during a full moon. After fertilization, the egg, called a

zygote A zygote (; , ) is a eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individ ...

, drifts through the water and undergoes cell division in

mitosis Mitosis () is a part of the cell cycle in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells in which replicated chromosomes are separated into two new Cell nucleus, nuclei. Cell division by mitosis is an equational division which gives rise to genetically identic ...

. An embryo develops into a planula larva, a type of microscopic

zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...

. The coral planula moves with tiny cilia that cover the body until it finds a hard substrate suitable for settlement.

Conservation

Widespread threats are causing coral populations to decline worldwide. Factors such as habitat loss, disease, warming ocean temperatures, and physical destruction are contributing to reduced coral populations worldwide. Localized threats include human development, invasive species, unsustainable fishing practices, and pollution. Stony corals throughout the Caribbean are greatly threatened by habitat loss and susceptible to disease.

White band disease White band disease is a coral disease that affects acroporid corals and is distinguishable by the white band of exposed coral skeleton that it forms. The disease completely destroys the coral tissue of Caribbean acroporid corals, specifically ...

has led to coral deaths in this region. Scientists are still unsure on the cause of white band disease, which is identified by peeling tissue and an exposed white skeleton.

Species

The

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

recognizes the following species in the genus ''Mycetophyllia'': *''Knobby cactus coral (Mycetophyllia aliciae)'' Wells, 1973 *''Low-ridge cactus coral (Mycetophyllia danaana)'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 *''Rough cactus coral (Mycetophyllia ferox)'' Wells, 1973 *''Ridged cactus coral'' ''(Mycetophyllia lamarckiana)'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 *''Ridgeless cactus coral'' ''(Mycetophyllia reesi)'' Wells, 1973

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3941104 Mussinae Scleractinia genera Taxa named by Henri Milne-Edwards Taxa named by Jules Haime