''Oculina diffusa'', commonly known as the diffuse ivory bush coral or ivory tree coral, is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. It is found in shallow water, usually down to deep but occasionally as deep as . Its colonies are dense and have a yellow-brown color. It favours areas with high amounts of sedimentation.
Physical appearance
Colonies of ''Oculina diffusa'' are usually about in diameter and have twisting narrow branches less than half an inch in diameter.
Colonies
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...
have been recorded at temperatures ranging from 13–31 degrees Celsius.
Food
''Oculina diffusa'' normally eat
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
and small fish, though some have also been known to filter feed on tiny particles in the water.
Reproduction
''Oculina diffusa'' reproduces sexually by broadcast spawning. In shallow water, this is believed to occur between July and August, and during September in deeper water.
After being planktonic, the larva sinks to the bottom where it grows into a polyp. This produces buds asexually and develops into a colony.
References
External links
Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory homeCoral picture
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3326954
Oculinidae
Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Corals described in 1816